The Income Tax department will soon begin sharing with the Petroleum and Oil Ministry details of all "individual" taxpayers whose annual income exceeds Rs 10 lakh, in an attempt to check pilferage of subsidy on cooking gas by the higher income groups, reports PTI.

The tax department, apart from sharing the names of such people, will also share personal details of a taxpayer like his or her Permanent Account Number (PAN), date of birth, gender, all available addresses in the I-T database, email id and the residential phone and mobile numbers of such taxpayers.

The I-T department will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry in order to confidentially and safely begin this transfer of personal data. The move has been approved by the policy-making body of the department, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in the backdrop of government's decision which had said that tax payers with the annual income of more than Rs 10 lakh will not get subsidized cooking gas (LPG).

"This tax data with the Oil Ministry will ensure that all those who have income above Rs 10 lakh per year will automatically be barred from getting subsidized cooking gas cylinders. While some have already given up this subsidy voluntarily, there are many who have not given it up. "The government wants to check pilferage in this regard. The roll out of the process will begin soon," a senior official told PTI.

At present, all households are entitled to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each at subsidized rates. The government has already asked well-off people to voluntarily give up using subsidized LPG and instead buy cooking fuel at market price, reports PTI.

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