Various tax initiatives have been taken in the Union Budget 2011-12 for efficient tax administration. Presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee highlighted the initiatives including e-filing and e-payment of taxes, adoption of ‘Sevottam’ concept by CBEC and CBDT, web based facility for tax payers track the resolution of refunds and credit for pre-paid taxes and augmentation of processing capacity.

The on-line preparation and e-filing of income tax returns, e-payment of taxes through 32 agency banks, ECS facility for electronic clearing of refunds directly in taxpayers’ bank accounts and electronic filing of TDS returns are now available throughout the country.

The ‘Sevottam’ concept has been adopted by both Boards i.e. CBDT and CBEC. The pilot projects of Aaykar Seva Kendras (ASKs) under CBDT have come of age. CBDT will commission eight more such centres this year. In 2011-12, another fifty ASKs will be set up across the country. CBEC has also launched a similar initiative and four of their pilot projects have been commissioned.

The Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) at Bengaluru has increased its daily processing capacity from 20,000 to 1.5 lakh returns in 2010-11. Two more CPCs will become operational in Manesar and Pune by May 2011 and a fourth CPC will come up in Kolkata in 2011-12.

The electronic filing of tax deduction at source (TDS) statements has stabilized and soon there will be provision for salary tax payers to not file income tax returns as their tax liability is being discharged by their employer through TDS.

As a measure to increase the level of service CBDT will provide a web-based facility to enable tax payers to report and track the resolution of the refunds and credit for pre-paid taxes.

E-filing and e-payment of taxes expanded, boosting processing capacity and service centres to improve refund tracking and TDS compliance. The Budget advances digitisation of tax administration by expanding e-filing, e-payment, electronic TDS filing and ECS refund credit, reducing return filing for salaried taxpayers through employer TDS. Under the Sevottam service standard CBDT and CBEC will expand Aaykar Seva Kendras and scale Centralized Processing Centres to increase processing capacity. A web-based facility will allow taxpayers to report and track refund resolution and pre-paid tax credits, improving transparency and service delivery.