Aligarh juice vendor who earns Rs 500/day gets Rs 7.8cr tax notice

AGRA: A humble juice vendor in UP's Aligarh was left shocked after being slapped with an income tax notice demanding a staggering Rs 7.8 crore in tax payments—an amount far beyond his modest earnings.
Raees Ahmed, 35, who runs a seasonal juice cart near the civil court and earns just Rs 500-600 daily, now finds himself caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. The notice from the Income Tax department, delivered via courier, requires him to submit his response by March 28, leaving him scrambling for answers to a demand that seems utterly incomprehensible.
When Ahmed, a resident of Sarai Rehman, visited the local tax office seeking clarification, officials informed him that his PAN number had been linked to massive business transactions. The vendor, who said he has never engaged in any large-scale financial dealings, was left distressed, adding that he "suffered a spike in blood pressure" upon hearing the news. Suspecting identity theft, he lodged a police complaint at Civil Lines police station on Wednesday, after which a case against an unknown person was registered and an official investigation was ordered. Nain Singh, a tax officer posted in the Aligarh tax department, said, "We advised him that if his PAN number has been misused, he should file a police complaint."
Ahmed recalled the shock of receiving the notice on Saturday, when a courier person handed him the document. Seeing it was from the Income Tax department, he was stunned. With the help of a lawyer, who sits near his stall, he discovered that it demanded Rs 7.8 crore. "The sheer shock caused my blood pressure to rise. I had to take medicine for it. I couldn't eat or drink anything due to the stress," Ahmed said.
The tax officials asked Ahmed if he had ever shared his documents with anyone. When he denied doing so, they informed him that he had only four days to respond on the portal. Now, fearing the worst, Ahmed said he would demand strict action against whoever misused his personal data. "I want the guilty to be punished and sent to jail," he said, anxiety etched on his face.