Income Tax Department Uncovers Rs 700 Crore Tax Fraud, Tightens Refund Check
Authorities from the Income-Tax Department have identified a Rs 700 crore tax evasion scheme involving fraudulent medical and donation claims. Many culprits were high earners using the old tax regime, with some continuously making suspicious claims. To flag suspicious patterns and frauds, the Income tax department is taking help from advanced data analytics and AI.
As of September 17, 2025, this initiative has resulted in a 24% reduction in total refunds, declining from Rs 2.10 lakh crore last year to Rs 1.60 lakh crore.
After an overall verification drive in July, a recent campaign led to over Rs 963 crore in fraudulent deductions being withdrawn and another Rs 409.5 crore collected in taxes as of June 18. Taxpayers also reported foreign assets worth Rs 29,208 crore and foreign income of Rs 1,089 crore.
Now, the income tax department is tightening checks on big refunds – so if you’re expecting more than Rs 10 lakh back, be ready for possible delays.