Alarmed by fake donation claims to political parties and trusts, the Income Tax Department has initiated the NUDGE (Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable) campaign to encourage taxpayers to file correct returns if they have taken advantage of bogus deductions.

businessline has repeatedly reported on how frivolous claims are made through donations to Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPP).

“A targeted NUDGE campaign has been launched as a taxpayer-friendly measure, providing them an opportunity to update their ITRs (Income Tax Returns) and withdraw wrong claims if any. SMSs and e-mail advisories are being issued from December 12, 2025, to such taxpayers on their registered mobile numbers and emails,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the apex policy-making body of the Income Tax Department, said on Saturday.

The last date for filing revised returns for Assessment Year 2025-26 is December 31, 2025. Also, for Assessment Year 2021-22, updated returns can be filed till March 31, 2026, with 70 per cent additional tax (tax + interest).

According to the statement, the board has acted against many intermediaries who were involved in filing income-tax returns with bogus claims of deductions and exemptions under the Income Tax Act. “The exercise revealed that some intermediaries have established a network of agents across the country to file returns with incorrect claims on commission basis,” it said.

Further, it was observed that huge bogus claims have been made on account of donation to RUPPs or Charitable Institutions, to reduce tax obligations and even claim bogus refunds. “Evidence gathered from enforcement actions indicated that RUPPs, many of which were non-filers, non-operational at their registered addresses, and were not engaged in any political activity, were being used as conduits for routing funds, hawala transactions, cross-border remittances and to issue bogus receipts for donations,” the statement said.

The CBDT carried out follow-up searches against some of these RUPPs and trusts and gathered incriminating evidence in respect of bogus donations by individuals and bogus CSR by companies. The CBDT has strengthened its data-driven approach for early detection of suspicious claims and identification of high-risk behaviour patterns; one such risk pattern has been identified for taxpayers who have made claims under Section 80GGC or 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The data analytics indicated that many taxpayers are suspected to have claimed deductions for donations made to suspicious entities or have not provided relevant information to ascertain genuineness of entities. A large number of taxpayers have already revised their Income Tax Returns for the current AY that is 2025-26, and have filed updated ITRs for past years, the statement said.

It also advised every taxpayer to ensure that correct mobile and e-mail IDs are mentioned in their filings with the IT Department so that they do not miss out on any communication.

Published on December 13, 2025