Rs. 20,000 above cash transaction in real estate now under I-T radar

Rs. 20,000 above cash transaction in real estate now under I-T radar. Seems like there is no way one can hide or tweak their property transaction.
In case you are found paying Rs. 20,000 above amount while purchasing property in the capital, sooner or later you will be served a notice by the Income Tax department.
News has been doing rounds that the I-T department is about to initiate a drive where any realty purchase where the cash transaction exceeds Rs. 20,000 benchmark will be subject to I-T supervision.
Sources revealed that presently the department is in the process of short listing those property registrations where the cash payment was apparently higher than Rs. 20,000 during the 2015-2018 regime.
Meanwhile, I-T teams visited all 21 sub-registrar offices across New Delhi. A senior official confirmed that these teams by far scrutinized property registrations done from
June 1, 2015, till December 2018 where the cash payment crossed the said amount.
Asking about this newest drive initiated by the I-T department and its impact on property transactions, The Chairman - National RERA Committee, National Association of Realtors, India & Managing Director - Somani Realtors Pvt Ltd / Liyaans Properties Mr Mahesh Somani said, “According to the effective tax law (June 1, 2015), any investment related to real estate and agriculture has to be executed by either ac payee cheque or RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement). It can be also performed via electronic fund transfer as well, where the net amount is Rs. 20,000 or more. Violating this rule would attract a penalty of an equivalent amount of money under Section 271 D of Income Tax Act. The seller who accepts such payments made by cash or gives a refund of advance in cash will be penalized under the regime.”
He also added, “The Realty Market transactions are setting re-defined with non-cash affect & over regulation of implementation of laws in India. Moreover, such reforms will definitely give more impetus on digitization & use of banking platforms.”