Another Blow To Congress As I-T Dept Serves Rs 1,700-Crore Notice Ahead Of Lok Sabha Elections: Report

This action follows the dismissal of the party's plea by the Delhi High Court, which contested reassessment proceedings for four assessment years.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leaders Sonia Gandhi and KC Venugopal.

Source : PTI

Congress faces a significant setback as the Income Tax Department has served a notice amounting to approximately Rs 1,700 crore to the party, exacerbating its financial challenges in the lead-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the sources informed news agency ANI. "The fresh demand notice is for assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes penalty and interest," the sources stated.  Additionally, the Congress party is anticipating the reassessment of its income for three more assessment years, with the deadline slated for Sunday.

Income Tax Department has issued demand notice of Rs 1700 crores to Indian National Congress. The fresh demand notice is for assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes penalty and interest: Sources

— ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2024

This action follows the dismissal of the party's plea by the Delhi High Court, which contested reassessment proceedings for four assessment years.

Congress lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha, who represented the party in the High Court, confirmed the receipt of notices and expressed the party's intention to continue its legal challenge, Times of India reported.

Tankha labelled the actions of the Income Tax department as undemocratic and unreasonable, alleging that the recent notice, amounting to nearly Rs 1,700 crore, was issued without necessary accompanying documents.

Furthermore, the tax department has already seized Rs 135 crore from Congress bank accounts in Delhi, related to tax arrears and interests for the assessment year 2018-19. This move was executed after the party was denied exemption due to its failure to meet prescribed conditions.

On Thursday, the Delhi High Court dismissed Congress's petitions challenging the income tax reassessment proceedings for the financial years 2017-18 to 2020-21.

The court noted that both Congress and the Income Tax Department concurred on the resolution of the challenge presented in these petitions, consistent with the court's earlier ruling on the party's challenge to reassessment proceedings for the years 2014-2017.

Earlier on March 22, the court had rejected Congress's pleas contesting tax reassessment proceedings for the assessment years 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17.