Bangalore: With income tax collection of Rs. 15,194 crores collected so far in this financial year, Bangalore region stands third largest in direct tax revenue, after Delhi and Mumbai. Last year, nearly Rs. 11,000 crores was collected. On the flipside, the largest assets seized during a raid were also here, amounting to Rs. 6.25 crores.

Several industry sectors are major contributors and their tax payments are growing. The banking sector paid the highest and showed an annual increase of 10 per cent; the mining sector registered a 132 per cent growth and paid Rs. 904 crores in taxes. The information technology sector despite tax concessions, paid Rs. 407 crores last year, showing a 24 per cent growth.

Chief Commissioner of Income Tax-Bangalore 1, J.K. Rao, told presspersons on Tuesday that the Karnataka-Goa region clubbed together had 18.67 lakh income tax assessees. "Till recently we were classified among the metros and we still have shortage of staff but computerisation of operations has helped us. For example, the time taken to pay refunds is coming down,'' he said.

Where information technology has become useful is in work related to compiling correct information without intruding into an individual's privacy through measures such as tracking high value transactions and investments, Mr. Rao said. It has also become useful to account for Tax Deduction at Source, which amounts to 40 per cent of income tax revenue.

At the individual level, tax assessees can download forms, file them electronically and get refunds directly credited to the bank accounts. They can find out details of tax payable and details of deductions allowed and also apply for PAN and track status of their applications.

"The computerised networking of all 501 income tax offices in the country may become possible by June 2006 and for this, global technology majors have been commissioned. In Bangalore itself all tax returns are processed on computers and only five per cent of returns need to be scrutinised,'' Mr. Rao said.

The "enforcement" part while being less obtrusive now needs to be continued to check tax evasion and understatement of income, he felt. With banks and businesses having to report all high value transactions and all high investments in bonds or mutual funds tracked, it is easier to find out if a person is spending more than his stated income. "The country is estimated to have six crore mobile phone users and 10 crore colour television owners but less than one lakh persons report income above Rs. 10 lakhs. This means the tax net can be widened considerably,'' he remarked.

Asked about the impact of the possible closure of KIOCL, Mr. Rao said the department could lose advance tax payments of Rs. 110 crores.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail