The Income Tax department, following the strategy of 'naming and shaming', has published the names of some big tax defaulters who owe more than 500 crore to the tax exchequer.

The Income Tax Department published the name of 18 such entities on Tuesday out of which 11 are based in Gujarat.

The newspapers carried the names of the tax defaulters and the information printed was quoted to have been published by the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Administration) based in national capital.

This was for the first time the government had gone public with names of 18 tax defaulters that included Somani Cements and Goldsukh Trade, which according to I-T, have turned wilful defaulters.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had asked the I-T department to post the names of the 18 defaulters on its website in an attempt to make them pay the dues. Out of the 18 defaulters, 11 are based in Gujarat.

According to a senior tax official, "This is the first time the department has put in public domain a list of those wilful tax defaulters who have a tax liability of Rs 10 crore and above." He added further the department, in the public notice, has given the PAN number and the last known address of the tax defaulters for the public to know.

The companies whose names have been published include Blue Information Technology (Rs 75.11 cr), Jupiter Business (Rs 21.31 cr), Hirak Biotech (Rs 18.54 cr), Somani Cement with tax arrears of Rs 27.47 crore. Kolkata-based Victor Credit & Construction (Rs 13.81 cr), Mumbai-based Noble Merchandise (Rs 11.93 cr) are also there in the list besides others.

According to the I-T department, the objective of this is to publicize the names of the tax defaulters so that the people can come forward to assist the department in knowing their whereabouts. It also aims to create public awareness against such entities who are acting against the law.