After the cabinet on Wednesday approved expenditure of Rs 4,242 crore for an income tax project to be undertaken by the income tax department, the assessees would soon be provided with pre-filled return forms prompting them to only accept the details and submit the returns, bringing about a faster and more accurate process. Additionally, the cabinet sanctioned Rs 1,482 crore up to 2018-19 for the existing IT project of the department.
The project — Integrated E-filing and Centralized Processing Center 2.0 — would also ensure that returns are processed in an identity-blind manner, as the assessing officer would not know the location and other details of the return filer. “This will assure fairness in tax treatment to every taxpayer irrespective of their status,” the government said in a statement.
Further, the project would lead to faster processing of returns and issue of refunds to the taxpayer’s bank account directly without any interface with the department. The decision will ensure transparency and accountability, the government said.