Salaried class file tax returns online

Taxpayers from the salaried class are becoming increasingly technology friendly, the Income Tax (I-T) department’s figures indicate.

Taxpayers from the salaried class are becoming increasingly technology friendly, the Income Tax (I-T) department’s figures indicate.

HT Image

The department registered a 136 per cent rise in the number of people filing their annual tax returns online. The last date for the salaried class to file returns was August 4.

This year, more than 12.22 lakh salaried individuals in the country filed their returns online from April 1 to August 4 as against only 5.17 lakh people last year for the same period.

During the last financial year, April 2009 to March 2010, only 7.13 lakh salaried individuals filed returns online, a rise of only 23 per cent over the financial year 2008-2009.

“This shows that people are finding filing returns online convenient because they can avoid the long queues outside I-T offices,” an I-T official said requesting anonymity.

Many people file returns through chartered accountants or professionals who prepare tax returns, who also prefer filing returns online rather than sending their men to I-T offices a number of times, the officer said.

I-T officials said the online system has received overwhelming response although it is not mandatory for the salaried class.

A senior officer said filing returns online was compulsory only for corporates and, from July, for proprietors with an annual turnover of more than Rs 40 lakh. Chartered accountant Naresh Dharia said the salaried class has started developing trust in the department’s online system leaving behind the conservative method of filing returns manually.

He said the number will rise further if the department makes the system fault-proof.

“Sometimes there are glitches while uploading returns and that consumes time,” Dharia said. A technical glitch and bad weather were the reasons for extending the last date of filing returns from July 31 to August 4 this year.