Congress gets fresh notice from I-T dept, calls it 'tax terrorism'

New Delhi: The Congress has received a fresh notice of Rs 1,823 crore from the Income Tax Department for its alleged failure in complying with the tax returns.

The notice, adding to the party's tax woes, comes a day after the High Court rejected its plea challenging tax notices.

The fresh I-T notice is for the Assessment Years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and also includes interest and penalty.

The grand old party has accused the BJP-led government of hatching conspiracy and squeezing its funds, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"The systematic process to thwart Indian Democracy by the BJP proceeds at an alarming rate. Yesterday, we received fresh notices from the IT department to pay Rs 1823.08 crore. Already, the IT department has forcibly taken away Rs 135 crore from our bank account," the party said in a press note.

The Congress equated the I-T notice to "tax terrorism" and alleged that it was a blatant attempt to cripple the party financially ahead of the elections.

The party accused the I-T department of singling it out in tax recovery while bypassing BJP's tax violations to the tune of Rs 42 crore.

Addressing a press conference, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said, "I-T dept snatched Rs 135 crore from Congress accounts for alleged violation of Rs 14 lakh but closed its eyes on a similar violation of Rs 42 crore by BJP,"

The Congress has already lodged a protest against the I-T department for freezing its bank accounts and imposing a penalty of Rs 200 crores in February. The party has spoken about its cash crunch and claimed in a recent press conference that it does not have money to fund its election campaign.

The party had also appealed against Rs 200 crore tax notice to Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) but failed to get any reprieve as it was told to pay taxes and outstanding dues.

On Thursday, the party got another jolt as the High Court dismissed its petition challenging initiation of tax reassessment proceedings against it.