Ashneer Grover, known for his outspokeness on various issues, has turned his attention to Income Tax notices received by several startups, including some in his portfolio.
In a recent post on X, Grover highlighted that these notices are requesting startup companies to provide the last three years of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for all shareholders.
In the last 1 month, a number of startups (a few in my portfolio as well) have received Income Tax notices asking to furnish information about shareholders.
Bahut interesting hai – they are asking start-up companies to furnish 3 year ITR of all shareholders. 1) How and why will… pic.twitter.com/f48593uE4T
— Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) September 8, 2023
He raised two questions: “How and why would companies possess the ITRs of their shareholders?” and “Why would shareholders willingly share their ITRs with a private company?”
As per the document shared with the post, the notice read, “Provide documentary evidence to substantiate the identity and IT of last 3 years of shareholders to substantiate creditworthiness of the shareholders as well as the proof of genuineness of transaction in respect of fresh credit of the share capital/premium account.”
Grover has also tagged the Finance Ministry on the platform and asked the ministry about the relevance of creditworthiness in this context, as companies do not provide loans to shareholders.