The Hindu : Front Page : IT return forms in short supply

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Friday, Jul 18, 2008
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IT return forms in short supply

L. Srikrishna

Browsing centres charge Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 a page to download and print forms: assessees
20, 000 forms will land in a few days: officials

MADURAI: With less than a fortnight left for filing Income Tax returns, many assessees in the salaried and individual categories in Madurai and southern districts claimed that forms for filing returns are not available with the department.

There are a little over six lakh assessees in Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari districts that come under the Madurai charge of the Department of Income Tax. For salaried category, the last date for filing annual returns is July 31. Every year, the IT department opens facilitation counters to receive the returns. The form-shortage problem has cropped up after the introduction of e-filing concept.

Many chartered accountants and IT practitioners said that at a time when the IT officials had expanded the number of assesses to six lakh-plus, they should have ensured adequate stock of forms. The process of e-filing could be kept as an option until the assessees were aware of and used to it, they opined.

G. Balakrishnan, a High Court staff, said that the forms were not available at the IT office. Though a staff him directed to a shop near the IT office to get the form, they demanded Rs. 5 for it. Another assessee said that to download and print forms from the web site, internet browsing centres demanded Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 for a page. Many others claimed that they were asked to come after a week by the IT staff. However, officials in the Department of Income Tax said that there was no need for any apprehension among assesses and their representatives. About 20,000 forms would be in hand in a few days, they said and appealed to the assesses to complete the procedure of filing returns in advance and not wait till July 31.

The concept of e-filing was in a nascent stage, but assessees could make use of that option. In the near future, refunds would also be credited to the assessee’s bank account, they said.

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