Mohali, Sept. 26 — The Intelligence and Criminal Investigation (I&CI) Directorate of the income tax department, Chandigarh, on Thursday uncovered irregularities in the reporting of property transactions worth over ₹18,000 crore during a survey at the tehsildar office in Kharar.
Officials found that several high-value transactions were either not reported or submitted with incorrect details. The directorate has given revenue officers 15 days to file their Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT) and update their financial records. Failure to comply will invite penal action.
During the inspection, officials compared data from the state registry software with records submitted by the tehsildar to the income tax department. “We noticed multiple cases where transactions running into crores lacked complete information, including PAN numbers of buyers and sellers, making verification and tax assessment impossible,” said a senior official.
Under regulations, all property deals above ₹30 lakh must be reported to the income tax department with the names, PAN, and Aadhaar details of buyers and sellers. However, many tehsildars continue to submit incomplete or incorrect reports.
This is part of an ongoing enforcement drive across Punjab. Similar surveys have previously been conducted in Khanna, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Mohali, Fazilka, and other areas. Despite awareness seminars and outreach programs to educate tehsildars on proper reporting, gaps in compliance persist, prompting the department to take stricter action.
The I&CI Directorate said these surveys are aimed at ensuring accurate reporting of high-value property transactions, curbing tax evasion, widening the tax base, and strengthening overall compliance.
