Tax terrorism, says Congress, after asked to pay Rs 1,700 crore

The Congress on Friday accused the government of unleashing “tax terrorism” after the Income Tax Department asked it the grand old party to pay up an amount of ₹1,700 crore towards pending penalty and interest.

The fresh notice by IT is for assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes both penalty and interest.

Angry Congress

"The notices are being sent to cripple us financially. This is tax terrorism, and this is being used to attack the Congress. This has to stop," Jairam Ramesh of the Congress told the media on Friday.

"We will not be scared of these notices. We will be more aggressive and fight these polls," said the former Union minister.

The Congress is already squeezed into a tight corner due to a funds crunch after the income tax authorities fined the national party ₹200 crore and also froze its funds.

Supreme Court

After failing to get any relief from the Delhi high court, the party is likely to move the Supreme Court.

The party has accused the BJP of crushing it financially using the Income Tax Department ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that start on April 19.

Attack on democracy

In February, the Income Tax Department found fault in the party's tax returns and demanded ₹200 crore.

The Congress has described the tax tribunal's order freezing its funds as "an attack on democracy".