- Following the property registrar officers, the tax authorities have also uncovered unreported cash deposits amounting to crores in cooperative banks.
- A staggering Rs200 crore in deposits across three cooperative banks were not disclosed in the mandatory statement of financial transactions (SFT) that should be submitted to the income tax authorities.
- While sub-registrar offices (SROs) are required to report real estate transactions worth Rs30 lakh and above to the I-T department, deposits between Rs10 lakh and Rs50 lakh, depending on the account type, must also be included in the SFTs.
- These SFTs are meant to be filed periodically.
- Last week, the intelligence and criminal investigation (I&CI) wing of the I-T department began scrutinizing cooperative banks to uncover significant non-disclosures, according to sources.
Following the property registrar officers, the tax authorities have also uncovered unreported cash deposits amounting to crores in cooperative banks. A staggering Rs200 crore in deposits across three cooperative banks were not disclosed in the mandatory statement of financial transactions (SFT) that should be submitted to the income tax authorities.
While sub-registrar offices (SROs) are required to report real estate transactions worth Rs30 lakh and above to the I-T department, deposits between Rs10 lakh and Rs50 lakh, depending on the account type, must also be included in the SFTs. These SFTs are meant to be filed periodically. Last week, the intelligence and criminal investigation (I&CI) wing of the I-T department began scrutinizing cooperative banks to uncover significant non-disclosures, according to sources.
As these cooperative banks come under scrutiny, individuals whose names are linked to these funds are likely to face a fast-tracked investigation.
According to SFT regulations, banks must report cash deposits of Rs50 lakh and above in current accounts and Rs10 lakh in savings accounts. Additionally, any deposits, including those made through non-cash methods, in term deposit accounts must also be reported.
The tax authorities discovered that deposits totaling as much as Rs10 crore had gone unreported in the SFT.
Similar to the SROs, banks were found to be only partially reporting transactions. Alarmingly, substantial transactions amounting to tens of crores were completely omitted, sources revealed.
Banks are expected to maintain a robust accounting system that allows for easy filtering of deposits that need to be reported. The goal of SFT reporting is to cross-check whether individuals have disclosed these transactions in their tax returns.
While cooperative banks must report high-value deposits under SFT, there is no such requirement for cooperative societies. Cooperative banks are classified as scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) and are regulated by the RBI and the state’s department of cooperation, whereas societies only come under different regulations.