Income Tax Department working on mobile app to help taxpayers with IT returns
My Tax app will handle income-tax-related matters like payments, tax deducted, communications from the income tax department, and more for a taxpayer,
- Jul 18, 2017,
- Updated Jul 18, 2017 4:47 PM IST
Usually, Indian taxpayers are not very excited about the process of filing their income tax returns , and it has nothing to do with reluctance to part with their money. It is the cumbersome process and seemingly endless paperwork that puts them off. But, this is set to change soon with the release of My Tax app being developed by Income Tax Department to handle everything I-T.
The Income Tax Department is expected to launch the mobile application shortly to handle income-tax-related matters like payments, tax deducted, communications from the department, and more for a taxpayer, said a report by The Economic Times. The application is in line with the initiatives by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT ) to make the administration non-intrusive and taxpayer-friendly.
Users' profile in My Tax app will be linked to their Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) that will let the application access all tax-related information and even tax deductions by third parties related to that login, the report said.
My Tax will be personalised to suit the individual user and linked to them through the sign-in. It remains to be seen, however, whether tax-paying services will be extended to users from the get-go, or not.
My Tax app will allow taxpayers to register complaints with the I-T Department and send replies to questions from the latter. The application will let the board conduct online scrutiny which will allows it to collect transaction details of the taxpayer and get responses by e-mail.
Recently, income tax department also launched a taxpayer service module Aaykar Setu for both smartphones and desktops. The mobile app will also help people link their 12- digit biometric identifier Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number (PAN) card as well as track the TDS deduction details.
The service module also has a live chat facility named 'Chatbot' from 10 am to 6 pm which will provide solution to queries of taxpayers relating to PAN, TAN, TDS, return filing, refund status and tax payments.
"This is a very important step forward by the CBDT and the principle reason being technology as a very powerful tool becomes an enabler. (With the app) most of the work the assessee can discharge without any external help sitting at home," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said while launching Aaykar Setu.
It provides ease of use of all the services related to tax payment including tax payment, tax calculation. Also if a taxpayer has a problem, this app will help in lodging his grievance in the e-Nivaran module of the CBDT.
The taxpayers will also be able to receive regular updates regarding important tax dates, forms and notifications on mobile numbers registered with the ITD.
All taxpayers who wish to receive such SMS alerts are advised to register their mobile numbers in the Aaykar Setu module.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will also activate the option of filing tax returns using the service module in the coming months.
"The app reduces the physical interface between assessing officer (AO) and assessees. Physical interface has many unintended consequences - it is time consuming and can lead to improprieties," Jaitley said.
The tax department, he said, has endeavoured to reduce interface and a lot of it has already happened. The app will make it "far more convenient" and make compliance easy.
These digital initiatives are steps by the I-T department to directly communicate with the taxpayers on a range of multiple informative and useful tax services aimed at providing tax information at their fingertips.
Also watch:
Usually, Indian taxpayers are not very excited about the process of filing their income tax returns , and it has nothing to do with reluctance to part with their money. It is the cumbersome process and seemingly endless paperwork that puts them off. But, this is set to change soon with the release of My Tax app being developed by Income Tax Department to handle everything I-T.
The Income Tax Department is expected to launch the mobile application shortly to handle income-tax-related matters like payments, tax deducted, communications from the department, and more for a taxpayer, said a report by The Economic Times. The application is in line with the initiatives by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT ) to make the administration non-intrusive and taxpayer-friendly.
Users' profile in My Tax app will be linked to their Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) that will let the application access all tax-related information and even tax deductions by third parties related to that login, the report said.
My Tax will be personalised to suit the individual user and linked to them through the sign-in. It remains to be seen, however, whether tax-paying services will be extended to users from the get-go, or not.
My Tax app will allow taxpayers to register complaints with the I-T Department and send replies to questions from the latter. The application will let the board conduct online scrutiny which will allows it to collect transaction details of the taxpayer and get responses by e-mail.
Recently, income tax department also launched a taxpayer service module Aaykar Setu for both smartphones and desktops. The mobile app will also help people link their 12- digit biometric identifier Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number (PAN) card as well as track the TDS deduction details.
The service module also has a live chat facility named 'Chatbot' from 10 am to 6 pm which will provide solution to queries of taxpayers relating to PAN, TAN, TDS, return filing, refund status and tax payments.
"This is a very important step forward by the CBDT and the principle reason being technology as a very powerful tool becomes an enabler. (With the app) most of the work the assessee can discharge without any external help sitting at home," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said while launching Aaykar Setu.
It provides ease of use of all the services related to tax payment including tax payment, tax calculation. Also if a taxpayer has a problem, this app will help in lodging his grievance in the e-Nivaran module of the CBDT.
The taxpayers will also be able to receive regular updates regarding important tax dates, forms and notifications on mobile numbers registered with the ITD.
All taxpayers who wish to receive such SMS alerts are advised to register their mobile numbers in the Aaykar Setu module.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will also activate the option of filing tax returns using the service module in the coming months.
"The app reduces the physical interface between assessing officer (AO) and assessees. Physical interface has many unintended consequences - it is time consuming and can lead to improprieties," Jaitley said.
The tax department, he said, has endeavoured to reduce interface and a lot of it has already happened. The app will make it "far more convenient" and make compliance easy.
These digital initiatives are steps by the I-T department to directly communicate with the taxpayers on a range of multiple informative and useful tax services aimed at providing tax information at their fingertips.
Also watch: