After Mumbai, Telangana-Karnataka zone tops list of fraudulent tax deductions

Hyderabad: After the Mumbai Zone, the Telangana-Karnataka zone reported the highest amount of deductions under 80GGC for employees donating to political parties. Out of a total of ₹7,124 crore in the country, the Karnataka-Telangana zone accounted for ₹1,641 crore. In Telangana, around 15,223 employees were suspected of claiming fraudulent deductions.

The data of the income tax department shows the zone-wise spread of employees and the amount of tax deduction claimed under Section 80GGC of the Income Tax Act. In the Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur zone, a total of 86,058 employees claimed deductions amounting to ₹2,488 crore. The Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and North Western Region (NWR) zone reported 47,571 employees claiming ₹1,382 crore in deductions.

The combined zone of West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and the North Eastern Region (NER) had 8,597 employees claiming deductions worth ₹223 crore. In Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, 49,580 employees claimed ₹1,641 crore. The Kerala and Tamil Nadu zone had 9,163 employees claiming ₹270 crore in deductions. Lastly, in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, 37,822 employees claimed a total of ₹1,117.93 crore.

In total, across all these zones, 2,38,791 employees claimed deductions amounting to ₹7,124 crore under Section 80GGC.

The top five Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax (Pr. CCIT) regions with the highest number of employees suspected of claiming inadmissible deductions under the NUDGE campaign phase 2 are as follows: Mumbai region tops the list with 68,255 employees suspected of making such claims, spread across 66 employers. Karnataka and Goa come next, with 34,357 employees across 52 employers. The Delhi region follows closely, where 33,088 employees from 52 employers are under scrutiny. Gujarat has 21,432 employees from 45 employers suspected of inadmissible deductions. The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana region accounts for 15,223 employees across 32 employers. In total, 2,38,791 employees across 507 employers are suspected of claiming inadmissible deductions under Phase 2 of the NUDGE campaign across all Pr. CCIT regions.