The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has intensified its data-driven scrutiny of income tax returns to detect bogus claims of deductions and exemptions, particularly those linked to fake donations to political parties and charitable institutions, officials said on Friday.
The tax authority has taken action against several intermediaries found to be filing returns with incorrect claims on a commission basis. Investigations revealed that some intermediaries had established networks of agents across the country to facilitate false deductions and refunds for taxpayers.
According to Ministry of Finance, a large number of bogus claims were made under provisions relating to donations to Registered Unrecognised Political Parties and charitable trusts. Many of these entities were found to be non-operational, non-filers or not engaged in any political activity, and were allegedly used as conduits for issuing fake donation receipts and routing funds. Follow-up searches conducted by the department yielded incriminating evidence related to bogus individual donations and fraudulent corporate social responsibility claims.
The CBDT said it has strengthened its analytics-based risk assessment system to identify high-risk behaviour patterns at an early stage. One such risk pattern relates to deductions claimed under Sections 80G and 80GGC of the Income Tax Act, 1961, where data analysis indicated that some taxpayers may have claimed deductions linked to suspicious entities or failed to provide sufficient information to establish the genuineness of donations.
As part of a taxpayer-friendly approach, the CBDT has launched a targeted ‘NUDGE’ campaign to encourage voluntary compliance. Under the initiative, taxpayers suspected of making incorrect claims are being alerted through SMS and email advisories sent to their registered contact details from December 12, 2025, offering them an opportunity to revise their returns or file updated income tax returns for past assessment years.
Ministry said a significant number of taxpayers have already revised their returns for the current assessment year 2025–26 and filed updated returns for earlier years following the detection drive.
Taxpayers have been advised to ensure that their mobile numbers and email addresses are correctly updated in the income tax records to avoid missing official communications. Additional information on deduction provisions and filing of updated returns is available on the income tax department’s official portal.
