Taxmen are snooping the social media – Facebook and Instagram to extract information on high net worth individual (HNI) taxpayers on their latest acquisition of luxury cars, expensive jewelleries, luxury items and exotic vacations. Times of India reported this on their 22nd May edition of the newspaper:
TOI: Not just pals, taxmen also tracking FB for your foreign trip pics – The Times of India
The article states: “Tax officers want to see additions to income made during an assessment get converted into final collections and not get stuck in appeals. Producing photographs of an expensive purchases and vacation could prompt the taxpayer to blink and this helps close the assessment,” adds the CA. Many entities, such as banks, companies with whom investments have been made, mutual funds, have to file annual information returns (AIRs). A taxpayer’s significant expenses are revealed, to a large extent, via AIRs. To illustrate, a bank has to file details of credit card payments, of its customers, aggregating to over Rs 2 lakh in a year. Yet, social media data, which is collated by I-T officers, gives them the added edge.
‘Gemiinigirl_18’ has an obsession of posting all her latest luxury buys on Instagram. I have often written about ‘geminiigirl_18’ – Prerna Subba – “Subba posts her latest buys on Instagram and throws brand names acquired with obscene amount of wealth courtesy her beau, a rich Gutka king – Om Gupta of Raja Khaini’s deep pockets. Imagine posting a photograph where the frame focuses on LV suitcases and Prerna Subba and her friend on the backdrop at an airport. What a life!!!” Subba and her fiancé, Om Gupta splurged in Singapore and flaunted it on Instagram – “Gutka king, Om Gupta who is the undisputed buyer of luxury goods celebrated his birthday in Singapore by splurging on shopping at Chanel, Gucci, LV, Bvlgari for bags, shoes and much more for self and girlfriend, Prerna. In India PAN number and paying through card is definitely prohibitive for these wealthy people.”
Now all you folks who expose more than what you should on Instagram and FB, keep in mind the taxmen is watching!
Then why report it here unless you want to warn the tax dodgers?? anyway people don’t read TOI in full.
Who am I to warn the tax dodgers or alert the taxmen?
Who am I to comment upon who should read ToI or who shouldn’t?
I do what I do…