News: Tax department flags 2.5 lakh property deals worth Rs 3.12 lakh crore as unreported or with wrong PAN-24-04-2026
Surveys and spot verifications by the Income Tax Department in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have found over 2.5 lakh property transactions worth Rs 3.12 lakh crore in the past year that were either not reported or reported with wrong PAN details, people familiar with the matter said. The figures were significant in Gurugram, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Sonepat, Karnal and some other districts, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Section 285BA of the Income Tax Act requires reporting entities such as banks, sub-registrar offices (SROs), NBFCs and mutual funds to file Statements of Financial Transactions with PAN details for high-value dealings. SROs must report all immovable property transactions above Rs 30 lakh, and the data is matched with income tax returns.
An officer said the directorate of intelligence and criminal investigation carried out 42 spot verifications in 2025-26, mostly at tehsil offices across the region, to find irregularities in how designated reporting authorities report high-value transactions. These showed that SROs either did not report many property deals above Rs 30 lakh or gave wrong PAN details.
Another person in the department said over 2.50 lakh such deals were detected, many recorded at tehsil offices in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonepat, Chandigarh and several Punjab districts. Similar drives are reportedly under way elsewhere, and officials hinted that questionable transactions nationwide could exceed Rs 7.50 lakh crore, though the data has not been compiled centrally.
The officer said it is not known whether SRO staff colluded with taxpayers, but wrong reporting hampers tracking of high-value deals. The department has asked SROs and other reporting authorities to give complete PAN details and report all such deals, and fines have been imposed on several SRO officers, with more action possible.
Ashish K Singh, managing partner at Capstone Legal, said it is rare for one government department to fine another, and the fine sends a message to SROs.
