The Hindu : Front Page : Efforts on to step up online tax processes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 15, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Efforts on to step up online tax processes

M. Soundariya Preetha

COIMBATORE: The Central Excise Department here is pushing to expand the reach of the Automation of Central Excise and Service Tax Project which will encourage electronic filing of tax returns and payment transfers among other facilities. This is one of six Commissionerates in the country implementing the project on a pilot basis.

The project was launched here in March and since then the department has had 78 new Excise registrations and 296 registrations for Service Tax payment under the project.

C. Rajendiran, Commissioner of Central Excise - Coimbatore, told The Hindu that registration, returns and claims and intimation modules were available online. In three to six months, other modules such as audit process would also come online.

The system was not just for filing returns or making payments online. It was work-flow based, he said. “It will improve transparency, accountability and compliance.”

The Commissionerate had conducted melas to improve awareness among the assessees.

The Coimbatore Commissionerate, which covered Tirupur and Pollachi, had about 1,800 active Excise assessees. Help desks and help centres had been established.

It planned to write to the top managements of all the returns-filing units about the system.

“In two months, we plan to have 500 to 700 registrations,” Mr. Rajendiran said. Awareness meetings would be held for specific segments such as export-oriented units.

Entrepreneurs here were computer literate and were ready to accept change. So they would be able to move over to the online system from the manual filing system being followed now, he said.

K. Ilango, president of the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association, said the help desk at the association offered guidance on e-filing for commercial tax, Central Excise and Service Tax.

ACES had encountered minor technical hitches, and with more awareness the use of the system would increase. The association planned to launch awareness campaigns about ACES.

Mahendra Ramdass, president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, said over 90 per cent of its industrial members were computerised. So, moving over to the online system would be easy. “If awareness improves and certain doubts are clarified, the system will be used more,” he said.

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

Front Page