The Income Tax Department has been awarded the ‘Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration’ for ‘Easy Tax Compliance through Quality Service’. The award was presented at a function at Vigyan Bhawan here today by the Prime Minister on Civil Services Day.

 The award has been conferred to the Income Tax Department for setting-up and for successful implementation of end to end solution of core services. These include integrated e-governance initiatives viz. Tax Information Network (TIN), e-filing portal, Centralized Processing Cell (CPC-TDS) for processing of TDS statements, Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) for processing of Income Tax Returns and the Refund Banker. The solution architecture and the reconciliation processes are one of the best in the world.

 The projects have been conceptualized based on principles of USAGE - Uniform interpretation of tax laws, Simplification of forms, Easy Accessibility of services, Good tax governance and Empowerment of taxpayer with information. More USAGE prompts more Voluntary Compliance.

 Presently, over 4.5 crore taxpayers and 15 Lac deductors are using various e-enabled online taxpayer friendly end to end services viz. e-payment of taxes, e-filing of tax returns and TDS statements, tax credit statements in Form 26AS, digital TDS certificates in Form 16/16A and issuance of refunds.

 In the financial year 2014-15, more than 94% of the tax returns have been filed on-line, while more than 80% of the direct tax revenue is being received online. Besides, about 99% of the TDS statements are being filed electronically. While the TDS statements are processed within a week, the tax returns are being processed within an average period of 30 days. A large number of tax refunds are being directly credited to the bank accounts of the taxpayers.

 The award is a recognition of the sustained efforts of officers of the Income Tax Department. Four e-service projects of the Department have already been conferred National e-governance awards in past.

 The ‘Prime Minister Award for excellence in public administration’ and the four National e-governance awards to the Income Tax Department demonstrate the commitment of the Department towards achieving ‘Minimum Government and Maximum Governance’ in tax administration and to move towards a non-adversarial and tax-payer friendly regime.

Easy tax compliance through integrated e governance streamlines electronic filing, processing and refund delivery for taxpayers. The Income Tax Department implemented an integrated e governance architecture-including the Tax Information Network, e filing portal, centralized processing for TDS and returns, and a refund banker-to deliver end to end electronic services that simplify compliance and promote uniform interpretation, accessibility, good governance and taxpayer empowerment under the USAGE principles.