The government has issued stern warning to tax evaders saying they must pay income tax that is due by December 15 or face action.

Revenue secretary Sumit Bose said only a fraction of tax assesses, which includes salaried people, professionals, companies, firms and transporters and retainers, disclose incomes correctly.

Bose said that in the assessment year 2012-13, just 14.6 lakh assessees filed their returns revealing a taxable income of more Rs 10 lakh, which was a gross under-statement.

In an unusual statement, Bose said, "Any fair-minded person will agree that this is a gross under-statement."

Bose warned that the information available with the income-tax department would lead the authorities to the doors of tax evaders sooner than later.

During April to October this year, the government collected Rs 3, 02,000 crore in gross direct tax. The figure represents an increase of 6.59 per cent from the previous, but it is much down from the target of target of 15 per cent.

The revenue secretary's stern statement comes as the union finance ministry is struggling to garner revenues to cut back the fiscal deficit at 5.3 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Slowdown in the economic growth has hit revenue mobilization efforts very hard.