Labourer shocked on getting Rs 2.59-lakh tax notice for Rs 1.47-crore bank transactions

Nabarangpur, February 4

A tribal daily wage labourer in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district has received a notice from the Income Tax department asking him to pay Rs 2.59 lakh tax for alleged transactions of Rs 1.47 crore made in his bank account in 2013-14.

Sonadhar Gond of Pujari Bharandi village near Umerkote who belongs to the BPL category said he was clueless about the alleged bank transaction mentioned in the I-T notice received last month for the 2014-15 assessment.

The notice from the Jeypore I-T office in Koraput district said Gond had deposited Rs 1,47,82,057 in his bank account during 2013-14 financial year for which he has to pay Rs 2,59,540 lakh as tax.

The account was opened in the name of Gond in ICICI Bank at Umerkote and as per the I-T department notice, all the transactions were made in the said account.

The tribal labourer said he had received several such notices from the I-T department since 2014-15, but as he is illiterate, he could not figure out what the notices were about. He never took these communications seriously.

When he got the latest notice he showed it to an educated man of his village, who told him about it.

Accusing his employer of being responsible for the whole episode, Gond said he has been working with a trader for the last seven years. He claimed that the son of his employer had taken his ‘patta’, voter ID card and Aadhaar card from him.

The employer’s son had also taken his thumb impression on blank paper, Gond said, claiming that he handed over the documents to his employer in good faith without apprehending any trouble.

Gond said he has never visited any bank in his life nor has he been to any other town except Umerkote. He said he felt cheated by his employer.

An Income Tax official said the notice has been issued on the basis of bank statement. — PTI