Elderly Laborer Receives Tax Notice for Rs 4.88 Crore Income, Told to File Income Tax Return

An elderly daily wage laborer from Uttar Pradesh was shocked after getting a notice from the Income Tax Department, which claimed she had earned Rs. 4.88 crore in the assessment year 2021-22 and asked her to file an income tax return.

The notice also asked the woman, Sabra, to clarify why action shouldn’t be taken against her for allegedly “evading” assessment in that financial year.

Sabra, who resides in a slum in Jasrana town with her husband Shamsuddin, also a daily wage labourer, was shocked to receive the unexpected notice on March 30.

The notice reads, “As per the flagged information, you have made the following transaction during the financial year 2020-21, relevant to AY 2021-22.”

Further added, “The income chargeable to tax amounting to Rs 4,88,37,927/- as detailed above has escaped assessment. Therefore, you are being shown cause as to why the provisions of Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 may not be invoked in your case.”

The notice was sent in the English language. The woman said she is unable to read the notice as she is illiterate. She also said that the moment she has not received an income tax notice, she did not know what an income tax notice was. The moment she received the income tax notice from the postman, she placed her thumb impression on it.

One of the advocates also stated that this kind of notice has also been issued by mistake due to clerical errors. He also stated that this could be due to Aadhaar number forgery, which requires investigation.

He also mentioned that Sabra will now need to go through the legal process to settle the issue and must submit her objections within the given deadline.

Interestingly, just last week, the Income Tax Department issued a notice of Rs 33.88 crore to Karan Kumar Valmiki, a sanitation worker in Aligarh. Karan, who earned only Rs 15,000 per month as a cleaner at the State Bank of India’s Khair branch, was served the notice despite his modest income.