Vijayabhaskar provided opportunity to pay 20% outstanding tax: I-T

CHENNAI: The Income Tax Department on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that an order of attaching the properties and freezing bank accounts of former health minister C Vijayabhaskar was passed only after providing the opportunity to pay at least 20 per cent of the outstanding income tax of Rs 206.42 crore for the non-disclosure of income from 2011-2012 to 2018-2019.

Income Tax Recovery officer Kumar Deepak Raj made these submissions through a counter affidavit before Justice Anita Sumanth who was seized with a petition filed by Vijayabhaskar to quash the order by I-T attaching the immovable properties and freezing his bank accounts on the charge of non-disclosure of income from 2011-2012 to 2018 to 2019.

According to the I-T’s standing counsel, the Tax Recovery Officer on August 17, 2022, requested the petitioner to pay only 20 per cent of the outstanding demand for 2012-13 to 2014-15 as the appeal was pending before the Commissioner of Income Tax (appeals).

“The immovable properties were attached on October 20 after providing an opportunity to the petitioner to pay only 20% of the outstanding demand for the AYS 2012-13 to 2014-15 to protect the interests of the revenue,” the I-T said in its affidavit.

Vijayabhaskar submitted that a bank account in which he received the MLA salary was frozen by I-T, and he is not in a position to withdraw the money and use the same for constituency expenditure.

However, the I-T rejected the contention stating that on analysis of the bank statement of saving bank account number bearing no 475326532 it was also clear that though there are credits of Rs 8,50,226 during the financial year 2022-23, the withdrawals in the bank accounts are towards personal expenditure and the amount did not spend for constituency works.

Recording the submissions, the judge posted the matter for December 12 directing Vijayabhaskar to file his responses for the I-T’s counter affidavit.

It is noted that the I-T had conducted a raid on the premises of Vijayabhaskar in April 2017 and revealed that it had seized several materials and loose seats. According to I-T, it came to know that the assessee had failed to disclose the income and pay the income tax to the tune of Rs 206.42 crore. Therefore, the IT attached 117 acres of land and bank accounts of Vijayabhaskar.