Hardoi (UP), Jan 19 (PTI) A daily-wage labourer in an Uttar Pradesh village here claimed to have received an I-T department notice demanding over Rs 7 crore in unpaid taxes. He is predictably puzzled and distressed about how to respond.

A man of meagre means, Govind Kumar makes ends meet through manual labour and lives in a thatched hut in Rudamau village in Hardoi district.

Family members, including his wife Soni Devi and elderly parents, questioned how it was deemed by the Income Tax Department that he had crores in tax dues, Rs 7,15,92,786 to be exact. He received the notice on January 13.

When contacted I-T inspector Shubham Sharma said he had no information about any team visiting the village to serve such a notice.

Govind, however, suspected it could have something to do with a bank account created in his name by a woman who claimed to get him benefits of government schemes six years ago when he was working in Kanpur.

He was taken to Biswan in Sitapur district to open a bank account in his name. In return, he received only a few thousand rupees and later handed over the passbook and chequebook, he said.

The family suspected the involvement of fraudsters who may have used his identity to float a fake firm and conduct transactions worth crores. PTI COR ABN SKY SKY

UP labourer hit with Rs 7 crore tax notice amid suspected identity fraud using his bank account. A rural labourer was served an income-tax demand for Rs 7,15,92,786 despite his daily-wage status; the family suspects identity misuse after a third party opened a bank account in his name years earlier and he handed over the passbook and chequebook. There is suspicion that fraudsters used his identity to float a fictitious firm and execute large transactions, while departmental personnel reported no confirmation of field service, highlighting questions of beneficial ownership, account misuse, and the need for investigatory verification prior to enforcement.