Income Tax Department Suspects Rs 5,121 Crore Tax Evasion in Uttar Pradesh After Examining Over 26,000 Property Registration Documents:

The Income Tax Department has found suspected tax evasion worth Rs 5,121 crore while checking property registration records across Uttar Pradesh. The department examined 26,628 property documents from 46 registry offices, including offices in Lucknow and districts near the Nepal border. Of these, 9,144 documents showed serious irregularities.

Joint Director Sonal Singh said that 4,311 property documents did not have the PAN details of buyers and sellers or complete property information. Records for another 3,119 property registrations could not be found. The department also found suspicious transactions worth Rs 1,160.75 crore linked to 1,714 property documents.

Speaking to the media at the Income Tax Department headquarters in Hazratganj on Friday, Singh said the investigation had been going on for the past year. The department has informed the Uttar Pradesh government about the irregularities and shared a list of Stamp and Registration Department officials and employees who may have failed to carry out their duties properly.

Deputy Director Sandeep Singh said notices had been sent to people involved in the cases. After the notices were issued, details of 17,487 transactions worth Rs 14,414.82 crore were corrected. The department is also investigating banks that allegedly failed to submit reports on interest payments made to customers. These reports, known as Statements of Financial Transactions (SFT), help the tax department track large financial transactions.

The department has also changed the reporting limit for property transactions. Earlier, property deals worth Rs 30 lakh or more had to be reported to the Income Tax Department. The limit has now been increased to Rs 45 lakh. According to officials, PAN details will be required for property transactions above this amount.

The Income Tax Department has warned banks and other institutions to report large financial transactions on time. Institutions that fail to submit the required SFT reports may face penalties.

Amit Gupta, Principal Secretary of the Stamp and Registration Department, said meetings had been held with Income Tax officials to discuss the issue. He added that action would be taken against registry office employees found responsible for irregularities in old records.

Gupta also said that keeping property records manually can lead to errors. He has asked the Income Tax Department to help move the entire property registration system online. An online system, along with mandatory Aadhaar and PAN details, could reduce mistakes, improve transparency and make property registration records easier to maintain.