Did an online fund transfer of over Rs 2.5 lakh? You may face tax enquiry

As another fallout of the government’s crackdown on black money, fund transfers worth over Rs 2.5 lakh done through the electronic mode will now be under the tax department’s scanner, reports the Hindustan Times today.

Following the demonetisation exercise, tax officials have been closely monitoring electronic transfers of any big amounts, particularly fund activity in new bank and Jan Dhan accounts.

Right after the government announced the demonetisation move, there were reports of multiple savings accounts being opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and illegal money being poured into them. Such dormant savings accounts which suddenly turned active are now under investigation.

Post the note ban, Jan Dhan accounts jumped to more than 250 million in November from 230 million in August. Deposits in these accounts surged nearly 45 percent to over Rs 74,000 crore in just 23 days from announcement to the end of November.

The government had asked citizens to disallow anyone wanting to use their Jan Dhan accounts to deposit unaccounted cash and directed banks to provide details of high-value cash transactions.

The fact that nearly Rs 10,500 crore was withdrawn from the Jan Dhan accounts in the four-month period between November 30 and March 15, also hints these accounts had been misused.

As on March 15, deposits in Jan Dhan accounts stood at around Rs 63,836 crore, against Rs 74,321 crore at the end of November, according to data on the Jan Dhan website.