Income Tax E-Filing - Proves to be a Crowd Reducer

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The volume of income-tax applications has increased after the department has made it mandatory for all those who earn over Rs 10 lakh per annum or own assets abroad to file their returns online, causing the department’s website to crash intermittently as several assessees try to register before the due date.

But income-tax officers and employees have been helping taxpayers negotiate countdown to their annual income-tax returns all week. Tuesday,July 31, is the last day to file returns. As reported since Application volume has surged, the department’s website crashed intermittently

There is some hope for those who miss the July 31st deadline. Those who have no outstanding taxes may file their returns after the date. But those who owe tax will have to pay interest on the tax due.

Since E-filing is getting popular among assessees who are having income of less than Rs.10 lakh, has resulted in considerably fewer assessees at the Income tax Offices.

Unlike previous years,when long queues were visible at tax collection counters, a trickle of applicants arrived last week. On Monday, the penultimate day for filing, an average of three or four persons could be seen at each collection counter in Income tax offices.

For the first time,the department had installed tax kiosks manned by tax return preparers (TRPs) to help people fill forms and do basic calculations.

Consultation was available free of cost but the TRPs were not authorized to accept returns.They were neither I-T department staffers nor, in some cases,chartered accountants. Assessees had to still visit I-T offices,or assign the task to a CA. But they could engage TRPs for Rs 250. As the help desk was not adequately publicized, few took advantage. “This is the first year we are reaching out, and the aim is to show we are not mere collectors but render service to taxpayers,” says Income tax department.

Source: Times of India