Pune: Pune is among the eight cities in the country to have the ‘online tax assessment’. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has approved the programme, which will initiate an ambitious scheme of jurisdiction-free assessment. The objective of this scheme is to eliminate the need for a face-to-face meeting between the officers and the taxpayers.
As per the information given by a senior officer of Income Tax Department, the new scheme is expected to start on a pilot basis from October 8 in eight cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune.
“The taxpayer would not have to visit the office as the entire system will be online. Also, from now on, the taxpayer would not have to be present personally or through an authorised representative in connection with any proceedings under e-assessment before the assessment officer or the senior IT official. The assessment officer will only ask for the required documents.”
“The hearing will be made online and the case can be transferred anywhere across India. For example, if a person belongs to Pune, he would easily know where his case will be heard. The board is trying to make the process simpler and corruption-free,” said the officer.
The CBDT recently implemented several measures to increase accountability of the Tax Department and bring transparency in the way it functions. Under this, electronic communication has been made mandatory for any kind of communication with taxpayers from October 1, which will be done through a unique identification number. This is being done to keep a close watch on the dialogue between the tax authorities and taxpayers.
