CBDT detects very rich ‘farmers’ without land

Key points

• Officials said there were instances where land sold to developers was used to show capital gains as agricultural income.
• In some cases, authorities used satellite maps to detect misuse of the tax provision NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come across many cases where individuals have claimed income tax exemption on agricultural income without having any land holdings.Over 300 cases have been identified by the authorities - just through data analysis - where the exempt income claimed was between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 400 crore, but the declared size of land holdings was zero.In these 310 cases, the amount of exemption claimed - which means tax foregone by govt -added up to Rs 2,038 crore, according to CBDT officials.Investigations have revealed that different tools were used to make "non-genuine" claims, which included capital gains being passed off as farm income.
• Officials said that there were...