A government-school teacher in Madhya Pradesh has received a tax notice of a staggering Rs.7 crore. What has stunned her family even more than the amount, however, is that the teacher had died in 2013 and the notice pertains to the assessment year 2017-18.
The family is not alone. Sources in the income tax department said as many as 44 people in the tribal-dominated Betul district have received tax demand notices of amounts ranging from Rs.1 crore to Rs.10 crore.
Usha Soni was a teacher in a government school in Patkheda village. On July 26, her family received a notice from the Income Tax Department, ordering the payment of Rs.7.55 crore in tax dues.
Her son, Pawan Soni, said, “My mother died on 16 November, 2013, after a long illness. The notice is for the 2017-18 assessment year. The document mentions a company called ‘Natural Costing’, which was engaged in buying and selling scrap materials.”
“We have filed a police complaint. My mother’s PAN (Permanent Account Number) has been misused and we did not even know about it,” Mr Soni added.
Nitin Jain who earns between Rs.5,000 and Rs.7,000 a month by working at a shop selling iron rods, was shocked after receiving a demand notice of Rs.1.26 crore. When he went to the income tax office, he found that there is an account in his name in Courtallam in Tamil Nadu, a town he has never even heard the name of.
