The Central Board of Direct Taxes has pointed out to the Election Commission the alleged discrepancies in the Aam Aadmi Party’s actual and reported donations, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. The tax body’s chief Sushil Chandra wrote in a letter to Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti on January 3, saying that this violates the Representation of the People Act of 1951.
Chandra told Joti that that an assessment of the party’s finances for the 2014-’15 financial year showed that it had contravened the provisions of the act’s Section 29(C). The provision mandates all political parties to inform tax authorities of details of donations of more than Rs 20,000. Parties found violating this provision are barred from receiving any tax relief.
In a notice to the AAP on November 27, 2017, the Income Tax Department had claimed that the party had not disclosed income worth Rs 13 crore and had also not recorded the details of 462 donors. These donors, Chandra said, gave Rs 6.26 crore.
During its assessment, the tax authority is believed to have discovered that Rs 2 crore of hawala entries was reported as voluntary donations.
The AAP is also accused of not reporting donations worth Rs 29.13 crore from donors contributing more than Rs 20,000 each in its report submitted to the Election Commission in 2015, The Indian Express reported.
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