Income Tax Department Flags Bogus Claims by RML Hospital Employees
NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Department has identified numerous employees of the Central-run Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital for allegedly filing fraudulent claims to obtain deductions and exemptions on their taxable income. Officials have instructed these employees to retract their claims and pay the adjusted tax along with interest, warning that non-compliance may lead to substantial penalties and prosecution.
In a communication sent to the hospital authorities, the department highlighted that the inquiry uncovered “numerous employees of your office have made bogus claims of deductions/exemptions in their return of income for various assessment years.” The investigation revealed discrepancies between the figures employees reported to the hospital for Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and the inflated claims made in their returns to obtain refunds.
The department’s letter detailed that “the above action on the part of the employees have been carried out by claiming bogus deductions/exemptions over and above what was declared before you for the purpose of effecting TDS on their salaries. Subsequently, they have benefited from ineligible refunds.”
Officials indicated that such cases are prima facie subject to penalties and prosecution under the Income Tax Act of 1961. Hospital authorities have been urged to alert employees about the implications of these actions and advise them to file updated or revised returns after abandoning false claims.
The Income Tax Department has also emphasized that employees who fail to amend their returns will face serious repercussions, including penalties that may reach 200 percent of the evaded tax for misreporting income, as well as prosecution under Section 276C of the Act. This section stipulates rigorous imprisonment for a term ranging from three months to two years, coupled with a fine.
In response, the hospital has issued a circular urging its staff to correct their filings ahead of the September 1 deadline. The circular reads, “All officers and officials are requested that whoever has claimed bogus exemptions/deductions in the return of income for ineligible refunds must file their Updated Return/Revised Return after withdrawing all such bogus claims and pay tax and interest as applicable on or before 01.09.2025 under intimation to DDO, ABVIMS.