In a bizarre incident, a saloon owner in Haryana’s Sirsa district, who earns less than Rs 500 daily, has received Income Tax (IT) notice demanding Rs 37.87 crore unpaid taxes.
Rakesh Kumar, resident of Ali Mohammad village in Sirsa district has been running a saloon near Dera Sacha Sauda for the last 10 years. On March 29, when he was not present at his saloon, a postman delivered an envelope addressed in his name to a nearby shop. When he returned, the shopkeeper handed him the envelope.
Upon opening the envelope, Rakesh found that the letter was written in English. Being only 5th pass, he could not decipher anything in the letter. He approached a person in the neighbourhood who knew English.
After reading the letter, the person told Rakesh that he was asked to deposit Rs 37,87,61,561 as income tax within April 9. Rakesh was left in utter shock and disbelief when he heard this.
Rakesh lives in a two-room house in the village and has neither any land nor property. His father, Narsi Ram, does tailoring work and mother, Meva Devi, and wife, Sunita, are homemakers. He has two children.
“I have to struggle very hard to feed my family. With an income of less than Rs 500 a day, paying such a huge amount is beyond my imagination. Everyone in the house is worried after getting this notice,” he said.
Rakesh said he had taken a loan of Rs 10,000 in 2020 and had repaid the entire amount. He apprehended that the documents he had submitted at that time must have been misused since Income Tax officials from Gurugram had reached out to him with a search warrant earlier. The officials had then told him that a firm was opened in Gurugram using his home address. Rakesh was also taken to Gurugram, where officials told him that a fraud was committed in his name. After getting his signature, Rakesh was let off saying an investigation will be conducted. But now after five years, a notice has been issued to him by Sirsa Income Tax Department.
Rakesh has lodged a complaint at Nathusari Chowpata police station. The station in-charge too has assured of appropriate action, he said.
Source: ETV Bharat
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