Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the income tax department had gathered sufficient information on large spenders and intended to use it to track those who were not paying taxes or not filing returns.

The minister said information on annual returns, filed so far, revealed that 125,511 entities (individuals and firms) had transacted or made cash deposits of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) or more in the last financial year.

Similarly, 323,563 entities had made credit card payments aggregating over Rs 2 lakh (Rs 200,000) or more during the year. Also, 400,966 entities had purchased mutual fund units worth Rs 2 lakh (Rs 200,000) or more in the last financial year.

The minister also said information on large share transactions, high-value property sales and investments in RBI bonds would also aid in tracking tax evaders.

"Prima facie, each one of them is an income tax assessee, though there may be some overlap on transactions. Many of them may have not filed or have stopped filing tax returns. We have the names and addresses with us. We have a large database which will be used to catch those who do not pay taxes or have stopped filing returns," Chidambaram told reporters.

The minister said chief income tax commissioners had been asked to ensure that details on high-value real estate transactions, which were to be filed by the end of August, were available with the department by the end of November.

He said only a handful of Central Board of Direct Taxes officers would be privy to the information collected by the department, and the government would take utmost care in maintaining confidentiality.

Chidambaram's statement comes ahead of the October 31 deadline for filing income tax returns by non-salaried assessees.

"It is unacceptable that there are only 85,000 people who disclose incomes of Rs 10 lakh or more. The number must be doubled, trebled, quadrupled in a short span,' he said, adding that the income tax department would rely more on information and intelligence to check tax evasion.

The tax department has launched a drive to contact people who have stopped filing tax returns over the last few years. There were 24.61 million assessees who filed returns during 2004-05, against 23.44 million in the previous year.

The tax department will send SMS to 15 million mobile phone users, running up monthly bills of over Rs 1,000, to pay taxes. This message will be sent along with Diwali greetings. "The message is clear. The best way to celebrate Diwali is by filing returns," Chidambaram said.