Mismatch between ITR & service tax returns under lens

New Delhi: The revenue department has asked tax officials to examine the mismatch in turnover towards services between income tax returns and service tax returns by businesses during 2015-16 and 2016-17.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman P K Das in a letter to field formation stated that there was a considerable gap of Rs 12 lakh crore between the turnover on account of services as per the ITR/TDS (tax deducted at source) data and the value of services declared in the corresponding service tax returns for fiscal 2015-16.

Mismatches were also noticed for the financial year 2016-17, for which data is being shared with the field offices.

"... the sheer magnitude of the mismatch is a pointer to the possibility of revenue leakage which cannot be ignored," Das said, asking the tax officers to verify the data and report it to the CBIC quickly.

The mismatch in ITR and service tax returns has come to notice in respect of permanent account numbers (PANs) that are either not at all registered under service tax or PANs which are registered but did not file the service tax returns.