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Income Tax Notice for Funding through Electoral Bonds: The tax authority is keeping a close watch on companies that raise funds through political parties by buying electoral bonds. Companies that donate to political parties are now reportedly receiving notices from tax authorities. In February, the Supreme Court declared electoral bonds unconstitutional.
According to media reports, some companies have received notices in this regard. About 1,300 companies claiming tax exemption for charitable contributions, including Infosys, Embassy Group, Megha Engineering, Aditya Birla Group, JSW Steel, Torrent Pharma, Lupin, Intas, Bharti Airtel and Alembic Pharma, have received income tax notices
Now what?
Since the introduction of electoral bonds in January 2018, political parties have received donations worth Rs. 16,518 crore. However, on February 15, the country's Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional. This has raised concerns among corporate donors about the tax implications of their contributions. Big companies have sought intervention from the Finance Ministry and possible relief in the upcoming budget.
List of top donors, as per data provided by the Election Commission of India
- Future Gaming & Hotel Services PR
- Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited
- RAPID SUPPLY CHAIN PVT LTD
- Vedanta Limited
- Haldia Energy Limited
- Bharti Group (Includes Bharti Airtel Limited, Bharti Airtel Current Ac gco, Bharti Infratel, Bharti Telemedia.)
- Essel Mining & Industries Limited
- Western UP Power Transmission Company Limited
- Caventer Foodpark Infra Limited
- Madanlal Limited
Which political party received how much donation?
BJP was at the forefront in getting funds through electoral bonds. Among the top four political parties that received the most funds, BJP has received a total of Rs. 6,986.5 crores from electoral bonds. Out of which Rs. 2555 crores were received in 2019-20. Trinamool Congress (TMC) got Rs. 1,397 crores through electoral bonds, Congress got a total of Rs. 1,334.35 crores. Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) redeemed bonds worth Rs. 1,322 crores.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) got Rs. 656.5 crore, including lottery king Santiago Martins Future Gaming's Rs. 509 crore. Samajwadi Party (SP) got Rs. 14.05 crore, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Rs. 7.26 crore, National Conference Rs. 6.05 crore, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Rs. 944.5 crore, Yuva Shramik Raithu Congress Party (YSRCP) Rs. 442.8 crore, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Rs. 181.35 crore.
Moreover, documents filed by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) stated that they have not received any funds through electoral bonds.
