news- 300 Political Parties never filed Income Tax

300 Registered Political Parties never filed Income Tax Return

A country-wide probe conducted by the Income Tax Department has found that 300 registered political parties have never filed their income tax returns. The Election Commission has now directed the Income Tax Department to issue notices to them. The EC asked the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to ascertain the financial status of these small parties for alleged violation of tax laws and money laundering. The CBDT conducted a probe on this issue and has submitted a report to the election panel. A number of political parties also do not possess permanent account or PAN numbers. It was alleged that people are floating such political parties in large numbers to evade taxes as the donations to them are exempted from income tax.