CHENNAI: The sub-registrar offices in Uraiyur in Tiruchy district and Redhills in Tiruvallur district have come under scanner for allegedly failing to disclose transactions worth Rs 3,000 crore to the Income Tax department. The Tamil Nadu registration department has now initiated disciplinary action against the sub-registrars concerned.
The action comes after the Intelligence and Criminal Investigation Wing of the Tamil Nadu Directorate of the I-T department conducted a survey at the two sub-registrar offices on Tuesday and Wednesday. While non-disclosure of property transactions is valued at Rs 2,000 crore at the Redhills office, it is estimated to be Rs 1,000 crore in the Uraiyur office.
As per norms, the inspector-general of registration or sub-registrar should share information about the purchase or sale of any property above Rs 30 lakh or more in the form of a Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT) to the I-T department. Official sources said sub-registrars of the two offices had all the details in their system but they failed to upload them on the website of the I-T department. The details of documents registered from the financial year 2017-18 to 2022-23 were provided by the sub-registrars to I-T officials on Wednesday.
As per Section 285 BA and Rule 114 E of the Income Tax Act, details about the seller, buyer, Aadhaar number, PAN number, nature of the property, and value of the property are uploaded on the I-T department’s website by registration officers at the end of every financial year through Form 61A. All registrar offices have been informed about this through a circular issued by the head of the registration department.
The Star 2.0 software of the registration department is designed to receive the information required for such uploading from the transacting parties before booking the document for registration. PAN numbers are mandatorily obtained from both the seller and the buyer if the value of the transaction is above Rs 10 lakh. Those who do not have PAN numbers should file Form 60 as per the I-T Act.
This information is also captured in the software. If the value of the transaction is above Rs 30 lakh, additional details, apart from Aadhaar number, PAN number, nature of the property, and value of the property, are recorded through Star 2.0 software. “All the registrants are strictly advised to upload the 61A details on the website of the Income Tax Department within due time,” a release issued by the registration department on Thursday said.