People use many methods to evade paying taxes in India, ranging from false tax returns and smuggling to fake documents and bribery. The penalties for this are high, from 100% to 300% of the tax for undisclosed income.

What is Tax Evasion?

Tax evasion is an illegal activity in which an individual or company avoid paying the tax liability. It involves hiding or false income without proof of inflating deductions, not reporting cash transactions etc. Tax evasion is a severe offence that comes under criminal charges and substantial penalties.

Rooting for taxes is never easy because most people question the concept of giving away part of their earnings to a government, but the fact is that taxes are an essential source of income for the government. This is the money invested in various development projects that are meant to improve the company's situation. But the country has been facing a massive problem with tax evasion. People who should be paying taxes have found ways not to pay them, and, as a result, it may be said that the country's income has been suffering. So let's take a look at what are the ways in which people are avoiding taxes and what are the penalties for it.

Common Methods of Tax Evasion

There are two aspects of not paying taxes when they are due. The first is tax avoidance and the other tax evasion. The difference between the two is that tax avoidance is finding a loophole that exempts you from paying taxes and is not strictly illegal, while evasion is not paying the taxes when they are due, which is illegal. These are some of the ways in which people may avoid/evade taxes.

Failing to pay the due

This is the simplest way in which someone may evade taxes. They simply won't pay it to the government, not even when the dues are called for. A person engaged in this sort of tax evasion won't, willingly or unwillingly, pay the tax before or after the due date.

Smuggling

When certain goods move from one location to another, across international or state borders, a tax or charge may be payable to move the goods. However, some individuals may move these goods in surreptitious ways to avoid paying those taxes that evading the tax altogether.

Submitting false tax returns

In some cases, when an individual files taxes, they may submit false or incorrect information to either lessen the tax that they are supposed to pay or not pay it at all. This is also tax evasion since the complete information is not provided, and they may be paying less than what they should.

Inaccurate financial statements

The taxes payable by an individual or an organization may be decided on the financial dealing that has taken place during the assessment year. If false financial documents or accounts books are submitted, showing incomes less than what was earned, the tax may decrease.

Using fake documents to claim exemption

The government may have provided certain exemptions and privileges to certain strata or members of society to ensure they have a bit more financial freedom to progress. In some cases, members who don't qualify for such privileges will get documents created to support their claim of being a part of that group, thus claiming exemptions where they are not suited.

Not reporting income

It could be said that this is one of the most common methods of tax evasion. In this case, individuals won't report any income that they receive during a financial year. Not having reported any income, they don't pay any tax, thus successfully evading tax altogether. The simplest example would be a landlord who has kept tenants but has not informed the authorities that he has rented the house and is receiving income.

Bribery

There may be a situation where a certain amount is due in taxes that the individual may not be willing to pay. In such a case, they may offer a bribe to officials to not make them pay the tax and to make it 'disappear'.

Storing wealth outside the country

We have all heard tales of Swiss bank accounts. Offshore accounts are accounts maintained outside the country. Information about the dealing in these accounts is not disclosed to the income tax department, thereby evading any and all taxes due on that wealth.

Penalties for Tax Evasion

There are various penalties that the income tax department can impose on anyone who is found guilty of evading or avoiding taxes. These penalties can also apply to companies that either fail to report and pay their taxes or fail to deduct taxes at the source when they are supposed to.

Some of these may be:

1. Collecting 100% to 300% of the tax when income is not disclosed.
2. In case of a failure to pay the tax due, the assessing officer may impose a penalty amount, but it cannot exceed the amount due in taxes.
3. If an individual fails to file tax statements within the time allotted, then a penalty of Rs. 200 per day may be charged for every day that the statements are not filed.
4. If someone has concealed details of their income or any taxable fringe benefits, the penalty can range from 100% to 300% of the tax amount due.
5. If a person or a company fails to maintain their accounts properly as directed by section 44AA, a penalty of Rs. 25,000 may be levied.
6. If a company fails to get itself audited or fails to provide a report of the said audit, then a penalty of Rs. 1.5 lakhs or 0.5% of the sales turnover, whichever is less, may be charged.
7. If a report from an accountant is not provided as directed, then a fine of Rs. 1 lakh may be levied.
8. If an organisation fails to deduct tax where it is supposed to while making payments, then the penalty could be payment of the tax due.

These are just some of the penalties that the Income Tax department can levy, and, in some cases, it can be a hefty sum to pay, so the best thing to do is to ensure that all taxes are paid when they are due.