I-T returns and info provided to tax authorities are exempt from disclosure under RTI Act

Issue

Whether the Income-tax returns and other information provided to Income Tax Authorities by a taxpayer are personal and confidential in nature and, therefore, cannot be placed in public domain through RTI Act?

The High Court held as under-

1) Income-tax returns and other information provided to Income Tax Authorities by individuals and unincorporated assessees are confidential in nature and cannot be placed in public domain, as it would be exempt under section 8(1)(j) of Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act).

2) In cases of widely held companies, most information relating to their income and expenditure would be in public domain and, therefore, it is only confidential information that would be exempt from disclosure under section 8(1)(d) of RTI Act.

3) Information furnished by an assessee in income-tax return can be disclosed only where it is necessary thing to do so in public interest and where such interest outweighs in importance any possible harm or injury to assessee or any other third party. However, information furnished by corporate assessees that neither relates to another party nor is exempt under section 8(1)(d) RTI Act can be disclosed- Naresh Trehan v. Rakesh Kumar Gupta [2014] 51 taxmann.com 548 (Delhi)