Tuesday, March 19, 2013

E-filing returns now mandatory

E-filing returns now mandatoryFew days left to save tax.

Individuals earning over Rs 5 lakh a year are required to file their tax returns in the electronic format. Last year, the government had made e-filing of tax returns mandatory for assessees with annual income of Rs 10 lakh and above.

For taxpayers, the biggest advantage is that they can get the refund within three to four months after filing the returns online, with the government putting in place a web-based status tracking facility for refunds and the grievances redressal mechanism being strengthened for ensuring prompt disposal of all complaints.


Electronic filing of TDS returns are now possible throughout the country. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has set up Aaykar Seva Kendras for efficient tax administration and the web-based platform can be used by the taxpayer to track the resolution of refunds and credit for pre-paid taxes and augmentation of processing capacity. Refunds are directly deposited through electronic clearing system in taxpayers' bank accounts. To ramp up the processing of refunds, the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) at Bangalore has also increased its daily processing capacity of returns filed.

Prior to e-filing, one needs to register at the income tax website and use a digital signature. After e-filing, Form ITR-V is generated online, which should be printed, signed and posted to the CPC, Bangalore, within 120 days of e-filing. To ensure speedy refund, the taxpayer has to ensure that once the ITR-V is generated, the form should be downloaded. One must then print the form in blue ink and send the signed form by ordinary/speed post to the CPC. After receiving the signed ITR-V form, the CPC will then send an e-mail acknowledging the receipt of ITR-V to the e-mail ID stated in the return form. Also, the tax payer will get an SMS on his mobile number. In case the tax payer does not get any response from the department regarding receipt of ITR-V, then the taxpayer will have to send a fresh ITR-V to the CPC and get their receipt and this will be the confirmation.



No comments:

Post a Comment