If there is something that hassles taxpayers, it is getting the right income tax return form(s) and filling them accurately. Mr Sushil Chandra, the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stated they will introduce ‘pre-filled’ forms when speaking at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event on 4 December.
Once they introduce these e-forms, information like personal info like income, tax slab and sources of income among others will be automatically filled by the Income Tax Department. You, as a user, will have to approve the pre-filled information and make changes if required. This will not only save time and effort but also result in faster processing.
Aside from this, the IT Dept also strives to simplify the process for the assessee. They are looking at a turnaround time of one week to process the return. They are also working towards delivering PAN in less than four hours.
“Under a simplified return format, returns with declared incomes up to Rs 5 million would be a single-page document”, Chandra hopes. This can be done instantly. So far, only 0.5% of tax evasion cases could be investigated. Thanks to digitization, close to 70,000 cases were settled online this fiscal year.
To take this initiative forward, the department will use data analytics on early tax payments, e-filings, refunds and settlements.
