I-T dept seizes Rs 992.5 cr assets in 2017-18... betters tax-to-GDP ratio

New Delhi: The income tax department seized assets worth Rs 992.52 crore during 2017-18, while 582 search and seizure operations were conducted during the financial year, Parliament was informed Friday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said the income tax department seizes unaccounted/ undisclosed/ unexplained assets during the search and seizure operations.

The values of assets seized during the past two financial year are Rs 1,469.62 crore in 2016-17 and Rs 992.52 crore in 2017-18, Shukla said.

The total number of search and seizure operations conducted by the I-T department stood at 1,152, and 582 during 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively.

In a separate reply, Shukla said the direct tax-GDP ratio improved to 5.98 per cent in 2017-18, from 5.57 per cent in 2016-17 and 5.47 per cent in 2015-16. The central indirect tax-GDP ratio was at 5.43 per cent in fiscal 2017-18, against 5.65 per cent in 2016-17 and 5.16 per cent in 2015-16.

"As per Budget Estimate, the indirect tax (including CGST, IGST and compensation cess) to GDP ratio for 2018-19 has been fixed at 5.96 per cent," Shukla said.

He added that several legislative steps, including simplification of tax collection rules, have been taken to increase the tax-GDP ratio. The measures include tax collection at source at 1 per cent on sale of minerals such as coal, lignite and iron ore for trading purposes and 1 per cent tax deduction at source on acquisition of immovables worth Rs 50 lakh or more.