Note ban impact: 18L people under I-T scanner, queries sent to 10L individuals so far

New Delhi: Armed with information about unaccounted cash of Rs 4.7 lakh crore, deposited by 18 lakh individuals, the government on Thursday said that queries have been sent to those 10 lakh people through SMS, email so far.

These form the deposits during the period of November 9 -December 30, 2016.

The government has launched the 'Operation Clean Money' under which "suspicious" account holders have to register themselves and explain source of funds to the I-T department. Entire process can be completed on-line and depositors need not visit I-T offices.

The time limit given for the reply to notices and compliance is 10 days.

In case there is no compliance within 10 days, the I-T department will inspect these "suspicious" accounts and take appropriate action against the depositors.

It has come to notice that in some cases money had been deposited in dormant accounts. Also, in some cases cash had been put in accounts by unknown non-account holders.

Post demonetisation, unaccounted wealth holders have an option to avail of a tax evasion amnesty scheme Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) and pay their dues, failing which the government’s long arms will surely catch them.

PMGKY commenced on December 17 and shall remain open for declarations and deposits up to March 31, 2017.