Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the income-tax department would target high net worth individuals by tracking their spending patterns in order to beef up the tax revenue in the current fiscal.
Addressing a closed-door meeting of chief commissioners and directors-general of income tax, the minister indicated that the one-by-six formula for widening the tax base could be modified, with more attention being paid to categories like foreign travel, buying of imported watches and luxury cars.
The finance minister also said the tax arrears recovery plan announced in the Budget could match the success of the voluntary disclosure of income scheme of 1996-97, and set a target of recovering Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) for the income- tax department.
Chidambaram's strategy included talking to the chief justice of India and chief justices of various high courts to set early dates for quick disposal of tax disputes involving substantial sums.
Sources quoting the minister said, "Out of the 5.5 million annual outbound travelers from India, nearly 2
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