New Delhi
Congress party’s bank accounts, including those of Youth Congress were frozen and made inoperative by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), claimed party treasurer Ajay Maken on Friday. However, just an hour later, the party claimed that it was defrozen by the IT department.
Congress called it a BJP government’s ploy to disrupt party’s election preparations by blocking its funds but the revelation by tax authorities on Congress tax liability has cleared the air about the entire account freeze row.
Sources in the IT department termed it a routine recovery measure, the tax authorities said that recovery made by withdrawing money from accounts is a routine recovery measure and the Congress accounts were ‘neither blocked nor stopped’. Also, the party has many more accounts for its activities, they said.
Congress owes an outstanding balance of about Rs. 135Cr for the financial year 2018-19 and this includes demand of Rs. 103Cr on account of assessment and interest of Rs. 32Cr (approximately).
As per the IT sources privy to information on Congress tax liability, recovery to the tune of Rs. 115Cr has been effected by withdrawing money from various bank accounts of INC.
INC was requested to pay 20 per cent of the total demand (i.e. Rs. 21Cr approx.) as per extant procedure. An amount of Rs. 78 lakh only was paid. Since INC failed to pay 20 per cent of the outstanding demand, letter was issued asking it to pay the balance demand of Rs. 104 crore. The appeal filed by INC before CIT (A) was later dismissed, the IT department further said in a statement.
