The Income Tax (I-T) Department has detected more than Rs 50 crore worth of unreported financial transactions during a two-day survey at a cooperative bank in Wadsa (Desaiganj) in Gadchiroli district, signalling an intensified crackdown on non-compliance under the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) regime.
The survey, carried out by the department’s Intelligence and Criminal Investigation (I&CI) Wing, began around 11 am on Tuesday and continued for nearly 48 hours. Officials scrutinised thousands of customer accounts, cash deposits and withdrawals, interest and dividend records, and other financial data to identify discrepancies in statutory reporting.
Using advanced data analytics software, investigators processed large volumes of financial information, reconciled regulatory filings and flagged transactions that were allegedly not reported as required under the SFT framework.
According to officials, cooperative banks have come under increased scrutiny because they handle significant cash transactions in rural and semi-urban areas. Under the Income Tax Act, reporting entities are required to electronically submit details of specified high-value financial transactions every year through Form 61A, enabling the department to match financial activity with taxpayers’ disclosures in their Annual Information Statements (AIS).
Among the reportable transactions are cash deposits of Rs 50 lakh or more in current accounts, Rs 10 lakh or more in savings accounts, term deposits aggregating Rs 10 lakh or above, cash withdrawals of Rs 50 lakh or more from current accounts, and specified high-value credit card payments.
Departmental sources said the ongoing enforcement drive follows last year’s operations, during which more than 50 surveys reportedly uncovered over Rs 25,000 crore worth of unreported financial information across the country. Officials indicated that similar action will continue as the department expands technology-driven tax enforcement beyond metropolitan centres.
The Wadsa survey is the second such operation in Maharashtra this financial year. Earlier, an I-T survey at a tractor dealership in Bramhapuri tehsil of Chandrapur district reportedly found several cash transactions exceeding Rs 2 lakh that had not been disclosed under the SFT mechanism.
Officials said the latest findings demonstrate that even remote banking centres serving predominantly tribal regions are now within the ambit of data-driven tax compliance monitoring.
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