In a significant setback for the Congress party, the Income Tax Department has served a notice amounting to around Rs 1,700 crore, exacerbating its financial woes just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The notice comes in the wake of the Delhi High Court dismissal of the party petition challenging reassessment proceedings for four assessment years.
The fresh demand spans from the assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes penalties and interest. Congress is presently awaiting reassessment for three additional assessment years, with the deadline approaching this Sunday. Congress lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha, who represented the party in the High Court, confirmed the receipt of notices and reiterated the party’s intention to continue its legal battle against the tax department actions.
Tankha criticized the Income Tax Department’s move as undemocratic and unreasonable, alleging that the latest notice was issued without essential accompanying documents. The tax department has already recovered Rs 135 crore from Congress bank accounts in Delhi, pertaining to tax arrears and interests for the assessment year 2018-19, after the party failed to meet prescribed conditions for exemption.
Recently, the Delhi High Court dismissed Congress petitions contesting income tax reassessment proceedings for the financial years 2017-18 to 2020-21. The court indicated that both Congress and the Income Tax Department were in agreement regarding the conclusion of the challenge presented in these petitions, aligning with its previous decision on the party challenge to reassessment proceedings for the years 2014-2017.
Despite the setbacks, the court left open the question of whether the asserted delay in commencing proceedings would affect the assessment itself, to be addressed at a later stage.
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