The government on 16th January has approved Rs 4,241.97 crore to establish an integrated e-filing and processing centre that aims to cut down the processing time for income tax returns from 63 days to 1 day.
Union Minister, Piyush Goyal said that "Government has given its consent to expenditure sanction of Rs 4,241.97 crore for Integrated e-filing along with Centralised Processing Centre 2.0 Project of the Income Tax Department”.
It has also approved the expenditure sanction for the consolidated cost of Rs 1,482.44 crore of the existing CPC-ITR 1.0 project up to 2018-19 financial year.
Goyal said, "After the conclusion of this project, the turnaround time for processing I-T returns will significantly go down from the current average of 63 days to just 1 day. Moreover refunds will also become much faster”.
The Minister added that with quicker and correct outcomes for taxpayers, it will also cut the need for rectification from the present average of 2 % to 0.1 %, a decline of 95 %.
According to the minister, software major Infosys that emerged as the lowest bidder has also been engaged to incorporate the e-filing portal and the CPC in the next 18 months with 3 extra months for testing.
The approval will be very beneficial to the department as well as taxpayers through various functionalities like - ITR pre-filling, integrated contact centers for taxpayer help and tax payer outreach programme via digital media.
The Finance Ministry said the decision will guarantee horizontal equity and impartiality by processing returns filed by all groups of taxpayers across India in a consistent, uniform, rule-driven and identity-blind way.
The ministry added that the decision will also ensure clarity and accountability by quicker processing of returns and issue of refunds to the taxpayer's bank account directly, by following international best practices and by offering processing status updates and quick communication through mobile app, email, SMS and on department website.
It also said, "The proposal guarantees continuance of the department's aim towards business transformation through technology”.
It added that the e-filing and CPC projects have facilitated end-to-end automation of all processes within the department by means of various novel methods to provide taxpayer services as well as to promote voluntary conformity.
