J&K among states under high IT return targets for 2017-18
TNN Bureau. Updated: 7/23/2018 8:59:12 AM
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JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir is among four states the Central Board for Direct Taxes is eyeing for expanding the tax net in view of increased economic activity
With a view to widen the tax base, Central Board for Direct Taxes (CBDT) has the Income Tax Department to add at least 1.25 crore fresh tax filers from across the country -- the highest to be from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir -- in view of increased economic activities. The target given out for Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh is to enrol 11,48,489 new tax filers.
The policy-making body of the department said as a result of its past initiatives in this domain, about 1.06 crore new tax filers were added to the income tax net during the 2017-18 financial year.
A new income tax filer is defined as a person who is not included in the tax filing base at the beginning of the year, but who files the return during the year.
A new I-T filer may not be called a fresh taxpayer added to the net as a person may file their income return but may not pay tax as they can claim legitimate exemptions, a senior official explained.
However, once a filer is in the I-T database there is a very bleak chance that such a person's income remains anonymous.
"The Indian economy is growing at a rapid pace. Considering the increased economic activities both in organised as well as unorganised sectors, there is scope for further widening of the direct tax base of the country.
"... The Board (CBDT) has fixed an overall target of adding 1.25 crore new return filers during the current financial year," the new central action plan (CAP) for 2018-19 said.
The CAP acts as the policy action vision document for the Income Tax (I-T) Department and is unveiled by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) annually. Its latest copy has been accessed by TNN.
As per the target, the northwest region of the tax department (that has jurisdiction over Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir) has been asked to add the maximum new filers at 11,48,489, followed by the Pune region 11,33,950 and Tamil Nadu region 10,36,645.
The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana regions have to get 10,40,218 new filers. Gujarat (9,88,101) and the Karnataka and Goa regions (7,95,626) follow the tally apart from the 12 other I-T regions in the country.