Never seen Rs 20,000 but gets Rs 20 cr tax notice: Daily wage worker’s daughter breaks down after IT notice

A shocking incident has emerged from Unnao, where the Income Tax Department has issued a notice of Rs 20 crore to the daughter of a labourer. The family was left stunned upon receiving a notice for such a massive amount. The young woman, named in the notice, , breaking down in tears. She stated that she has never even seen Rs 20,000 together in her entire life. She questioned the validity of the notice, explaining, “I have never used my Aadhaar or PAN card anywhere other than for banking purposes. I have never opened any firm, so how did this notice come to me?” The family is now running from pillar to post to meet officials for answers.

Poverty Meets an Astronomical Demand

The condition of Rashmi’s home paints a stark picture of her reality—the walls are made of unplastered bricks, the floor is unpaved (kaccha), and the roof is covered with a tarpaulin sheet. Receiving a notice for Rs 20 crore in such circumstances is truly baffling.

Rashmi Savita, a resident of Girja Bagh in Unnao, works as a tailor from her home. Her father, Ajay Shankar, works as a labourer in a private factory. On May 9th, she received a document via post. Upon opening it, the family realized it was from the Income Tax Department. Unable to understand the content, they sought help from a lawyer, who confirmed it was a tax notice for Rs 20 crore.

Suspicion of Fraud

Rashmi, who has completed her B.A., maintains that she has led a simple life. She suspects that her documents may have been misused fraudulently by someone. Desperate for justice, she has filed complaints with the Income Tax Department’s public grievance portal, the local police, and the Cyber Cell, in hopes of clearing their name from this life-altering financial claim.

Past Incidents

This is not the first time that a wrong notice has been sent by the Income tax department. Earlier, a poor Hardoi man got Rs 7 crore tax notice in January this year. Earlier, a Rajasthan washerman got tex notice of Rs 598 crore last month. In September last year, a dhaba cook from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind district got a tax notice of Rs 46 crore. In June 2023, a farmer from Uttar Pradesh’s Phaloda village got 23 notices in a year from the Income Tax Department. The IT department asked him to pay Rs 1.6 crore tax.

Bureau Report