Day After Delhi High Court Setback, Congress Slapped with Rs 1,700 Crore Tax Notice by I-T Dept

New Delhi: Hours after the Delhi High Court rejected the Congress party's pleas against tax reassessment proceedings, the party was served a notice of Rs 1,700 crore by the Income Tax Department. The notice was served for the assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and included penalty and interest.

The development was confirmed by Congress leader Vivek Tankha.

On Thursday, the Delhi High Court rejected petitions by the Congress challenging the initiation of tax reassessment proceedings against it by tax authorities for a period of four years.

A bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said the pleas were dismissed in terms of its earlier decision refusing to interfere with the opening of re-assessment for another year.

The present matter pertains to the assessment years 2017 to 2021.

Following the Congress receiving a fresh notice from the Income Tax department worth Rs 1,700 crore over discrepancies in tax returns for previous years, the party accused the BJP of engaging in ‘tax terrorism’ to cripple Opposition parties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

“The BJP is engaged in tax terrorism and efforts are being made to financially cripple the Congress,” Congress’s Jairam Ramesh said during a press conference on Friday.