E commerce, Online shops, BBM, OVI under Income Tax department lens

With increase in transactions taking place in the e-world, the Income Tax department is keeping a vigil on online shopping stores and messenger services like BBM to keep a tab on deals that could have ramifications of international taxation. 

Subscription-based interactive websites and online payment terminals have been placed under the scanner to develop actionable intelligence on cross-border transactions. 

A recent report prepared by the I-T department talks about keeping a tab and understanding the nuances of all such internet portals along with services like 'pushmail', offered on latest cell phones by various service providers, Nokia's OVI online store, Black Berry Messenger (BBM), multi-level e-marketing and deals struck through networks enabled by cloud computing. 

Cloud computing refers to the internet-based facilities activated between a host of electronic devices like laptops, desktops, tablets, i-phones and other servers. 

The department which has been aggressively pursuing cases which have ramifications related to international taxes and transfer pricing, has also asked its field formations and investigation units to understand the operation of these new technologies and prepare manpower in detecting such instances. 

The I-T has two forensic labs (developed by the Centre for Development in Advanced Computing - CDAC) in Delhi and Mumbai and it has begun training its criminal investigation and intelligence sleuths in these new domains where transactions take place at the click of a mouse. 

A number of recent cases developed by the I-T department as potential cases of tax evasion have been worked upon at various levels to check for net-based transactions.