CBDT unearthed Rs 16,398 crore unaccounted money post demonetisation

Unaccounted wealth worth Rs 16,398 crore has been unearthed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) post Narendra Modi government’s demonetisation move. The amount was unearthed during the period of November 2016-March 2017 through search operations.

CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra reportedly said that assets worth Rs 900 crore were seized and included Rs 636 crore in cash during the same period.

Surveys conducted during November-March in 8,239 cases resulted in the detection of undisclosed income worth Rs 6,746 crore, Chandra said.

More than 400 cases were refereed to Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Board of Investigation (CBI). The ED arrested 18 individuals, while the CBI held 38 persons.

He said that 1 lakh “high-risk” individuals who made deposits over Rs 25 lakh during November-March period were identified by the department. He added that around Rs 1.72 lakh crore were deposited in these accounts.

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17.92 lakh account holders whose deposits did not match with their taxpayer profile in the first phase of ‘Operation Clean Money’ launched on January 31 this year were identified by the income tax department.

He said the government’s move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes led to an addition of 91 lakh new taxpayers.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who was also present at the event, said: “The additional 91 lakh taxpayers that have been added, this number will go up.”

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