Government To Establish Tax Evaders Through ‘Project Insight'
Individuals posts on Facebook as well as Instagram shall be tracked for matching spending pattern with declared income as part of Project Insight.
With the coming month, tax officials may keep a close eye on social media post of residents to match their spending pattern with declared income. The move shall be aimed at carving out those individuals who escape the tax net in India through sites such as Facebook and Instagram.
"Officials will be able to spot those who pay too little tax without raiding offices and homes as they currently do, the people said, asking not to be identified citing rules on speaking with the media," said the report.
The report further said the move will boost tax compliance in the country by up to 30-40% during the first phase of the project. Project Insight involved the exchequer's sum of $156 million. However no official statement has been made by the MoF or Ministry of Finance in this matter.
The report added that the government has been gearing on the project 'Project Insight' for the past 7 years. Only last year, the Narendra Modi led government had entered into a contract with L&T Infotech for assisting in building the network as well as augment voluntary compliance. The report said Project Insight is expected to 'complement the world's largest biometric identity database'.
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