IT offices to remain open today

CHANDIGARH, Oct 30: Offices of the Department of Income Tax will remain open on Saturday to facilitate filing of Income Tax (IT) returns ...

CHANDIGARH, Oct 30: Offices of the Department of Income Tax will remain open on Saturday to facilitate filing of Income Tax (IT) returns by assessees. Tomorrow is the last day for filing returns. The offices will remain open from 9 am to 5.30 pm. Several counters have been set up by the department in front of its office in the Sector 17 Piazza to cope with the rush on the last day.

The returns are expected to be filed on the recently introduced simpler form called `Saral’, which replaces the earlier cumbersome form 2-A. In fact, the IT Department was forced to repeatedly extend the date for filing returns from June 30 as the new forms could not be got printed. Officials rule out any further extension of the deadline which has now been fixed at October 31.

Saral forms, though introduced are not readily available in some of the places in the region, including Ludhiana. Officials say that it is not mandatory to use Saral forms and that returns will also be accepted on old forms (2-A).

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Meanwhile, confusion prevails on the mandatory quoting of Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) by assessees on certain transactions from November 1 as notified by the Ministry of Finance. IT officials admit that so far only about one per cent of the 15.63 lakh applicants in the north-west region have been issued PAN cards. The delay in issuing PAN cards, sources say, is on account of the long process involved, a large number of applicants and lack of manpower available in various computer centres. The purpose behind allocating PAN is to create a computerised data-bank at the national level. IT officials say that the government had tried on two occasions earlier to create a national data bank, but the ventures failed. This besides, the PAN card can also be used as an identity card.

Officials admit that the department should have first ensured that the PAN cards were issued before enforcing the above said notification, while adding that a national computerised data bank, would check tax dodgers.

Earlier records were maintained on a regional or local basis and any assessee could evade tax easily. About 70 per cent of the work of issuing PAN numbers is expected to be over by the end of March 1999, with the remaining being taken care of by June 1999. Till the PAN is issued, assessees will have to quote their GIR.