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In response to recent media reports claiming a special drive by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to reopen cases related to House Rent Allowance (HRA) claims, the Ministry of Finance has issued a clarification asserting that such reports are entirely baseless.
According to a press release, the CBDT has emphasized that there is no concerted effort to reopen cases en masse, particularly concerning HRA claims. The Ministry clarified that certain instances of data mismatch between taxpayer filings and information available with the Income Tax Department have been identified as part of routine verification exercises. In response to these discrepancies, the Department has proactively alerted taxpayers to enable them to rectify any inaccuracies. While acknowledging inquiries initiated by the CBDT in cases where employees have made incorrect HRA claims, the Ministry underscored that there is no intention of implementing retrospective taxation or reopening cases related to HRA claims, read the press release. Data analysis was conducted in a limited number of high-value cases to address discrepancies between rent payments reported by employees and rent receipts by landlords for the financial year 2020-21. This verification process was targeted at specific cases and did not entail the reopening of a large number of cases. Additionally, since taxpayers could file updated returns for the financial year 2020-21 until March 31, 2024, the verification process was restricted to that timeframe. The Ministry reiterated that the objective of the e-verification exercise was to identify and address cases of mismatched information for the financial year 2020-21 exclusively, without affecting other assessment periods, read the press release. Furthermore, the Ministry clarified that there is no ongoing special drive to reopen cases related to HRA claims, and any reports suggesting otherwise are unfounded. (ANI)
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