# Income Tax Dept launches nationwide check on suspicious foreign remittances 2026-08-18T14:00:41+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Income Tax Department launched a nationwide verification on August 18 of suspicious foreign remittances, covering 394 entities and 36 professionals. The move follows data analysis and ground intelligence that showed entities sending large sums abroad despite little or no reported business activity. The department said these entities were either non-filers or filed returns showing very small turnovers. Preliminary verification revealed that the remittances did not match stated purposes such as freight payment or software import. Many entities were found not operating from their declared addresses. The department also flagged that a small group of professionals had issued a large number of Form 15CB certificates, and that the funds were received by a clustered group of entities. It has asked accountants to exercise proper due diligence when certifying remittances. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Income Tax Department's own statement is the sole source for both reports, which are near-identical press release rewrites. Greater Kashmir and LiveMint both lead with the official account of the department's 'nationwide verification' and detail the same suspicious patterns: shell entities, clustered professionals issuing Form 15CB, and address mismatches. Neither outlet adds independent reporting, criticism, or broader context on how much money is involved or whether similar exercises have yielded past prosecutions. The coverage is uniform straight reporting. A careful reader should note that the department's own numbers, 394 entities and 36 professionals, are the starting point, not the conclusion. The next concrete step is the outcome of the verification, including whether these lead to show-cause notices or tax demands. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - livemint.com (neutral report) Leads with and quotes only the official IT department statement, no independent sourcing or critical angle - greaterkashmir.com (neutral report) Virtually identical rewrite of the official press release, no original reporting or framing This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T14:24:47+00:00. Tags: Central Board of Direct Taxes, Foreign Exchange Remittances, Form 15CB, income tax department Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/income-tax-dept-launches-nationwide-check-on-suspicious-foreign-remittances/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/income-tax-dept-launches-nationwide-check-on-suspicious-foreign-remittances/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/