The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : 32 special counters to file IT returns

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 21, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

32 special counters to file IT returns

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, OCT. 20. The Income Tax department will open 32 special counters at the Aayakar Bhavan to facilitate problem-free filing of Income Tax returns, and cater for a large number of salaried employees. The counters will be kept open from October 27 to 31, the last date for filing of returns, and will function between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Appealing to the salaried class assessees to file their returns and make best use of this special arrangement, Binoy Gupta, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, urged those filing the returns through nationalised banks to fill up the correct Permanent Account Number (PAN) provided by the department.

``As on date nearly 1,60,000 assessees have provided incorrect PAN card numbers and they are waiting for their refunds,'' Dr. Gupta said.

The department had embarked on an educative campaign through brochures and handbills to fill up the forms properly.

Listing out various tax-friendly measures including installation of two Internet-driven kiosks and Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRS) made available to provide details to the assessees, Dr. Gupta told presspersons that the total number of IT assessees in Tamil Nadu was 26.50 lakhs, out of which Chennai alone accounted for 11.60 lakhs.

Claiming that this year the department had considerably reduced the waiting time for providing refund to the assessees through several pro-active measures, the Chief Commissioner said that by this year-end, the department would make operational e-filing of IT returns.

``We are waiting for the appropriate authority to complete the process of digital signature for commissioning the Internet-driven facility for filing of returns.''

According to IT sources, during 2003-04, the department conducted 45 searches which yielded an undisclosed income of Rs. 146.50 crores, of which the income tax collected was Rs. 40 crores.

In the current year, in 18 search operations, an undisclosed income of Rs. 28.12 crores was identified.

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Tamil Nadu