It was the inaugural session of a series of study circle meetings proposed on income tax for professionals. The resource person for the day was the principal chief commissioner, I-T department. The hall was packed to hear from the horse’s mouth on the initiatives taken by the department, the shortcomings they faced, the expectations of the department from professionals like us in the whole process of direct tax collection or better still improving the tax-filing scenario in our country, that reportedly was far below expectations seen in the backdrop of two path-breaking measures—demonetisation and the introduction of Goods and Services Tax.
Our chief guest, after the preliminary felicitations, started off detailing the steps he had taken, especially after the PM has directly started addressing the commissioners over the performance of the department. He made a pertinent observation that all these years, the taxpayers were aggrieved that the department delayed the refund process inordinately, but withe-governance system in place, human intervention had virtually been eliminated and refunds were being credited promptly without any hassles.
The department found it intriguing why people were still averse to filing returns and declaring their income. The professionals who are expected to bridge the gap between the taxpayers and the department had something to explain here, for they also played the role of advisers to the taxpayers. He also acknowledged the support and stellar role played by the postmaster general in ensuring printing and delivery of letters in record time to around 16 lakh persons who had Tax Deducted at Source (TDS).
At this point he also recalled a couple of interesting incidents. One person, who was served a letter to file his returns since `3,000 as TDS had been deducted, sent the commissioner a money order for the same amount, which was promptly returned by his office to the sender.
On another occasion, a senior citizen who too was served a letter for his purported tax liability on similar grounds, explained the fact that he did not have any income and consequently was not liable to pay tax, which the department after scrutiny concurred with. But the senior citizen was adamant that the department issue a categorical letter to that effect, so that in his twilight years he could live in peace. The certificate was promptly issued!