The Income Tax department published today the names of five entities owing over Rs 10 crore in taxes, as part of its strategy to name and shame big defaulters.

In an advertisement issued in leading national dailies, the department brought out the list of defaulters of income tax and corporate tax even as it advised them to pay their “tax arrears immediately.”

The department has begun this exercise of naming and shaming I-T defaulters over the last few years and had named at least 96 such entities which had huge tax liabilities on them and have either gone non-traceable or have shown no assets for recovery.

The latest list has names of five such alleged defaulters, based in Delhi.

A senior official said the public list, with details of the individual or entity like their PAN card number (in certain cases), last known address, assessment range and defaulted amount of tax, is also aimed to create an awareness among the people at large, so that they can inform the department in case they have some inputs against them.

“The entries in the list are specific to the tax arrears and assessment year mentioned. The tax defaulter’s address, business, shareholding and management may have changed,” stated the notice issued by the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (New Delhi).

The total taxes due by these five defaulters is Rs 10.27 crore, the notice said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) which acts as the policy-making body of the tax department, had adopted the strategy of bringing out the names of chronic defaulters in public domain a few years back and had also begun posting these names on its official website.

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