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Income Tax Department sets up compliance management cell to track evaders Courtesy : Live Mint

New Delhi: Stepping up its efforts to track tax evaders, the income-tax (I-T) department has set up a compliance management cell that will specifically track their tax payments and return filings. The tax department is also sending an additional 70,000 letters to individuals who have been tracked through its business intelligence project.

Under the business intelligence project, the department monitors high-value transactions bank deposits, bonds purchases and credit card bills above Rs.2 lakh—all linked through the permanent account number—and checks whether these individuals have filed income-tax returns. The department had sent out more than 100,000 letters in the last few months to check if the individual had filed a tax return or not.

“Preliminary assessment of the results show that a large number of taxpayers have filed return of income and paid self-assessment tax after initiation of this exercise. Taxes of more than Rs.600 crore has been paid as self-assessment tax and advance tax by the target segment in last three months,” the government said in a statement. The compliance management cell will help the government to take effective follow-up action.

Under its business intelligence project, the government also plans to develop an integrated platform for effective utilization of available and accessible information to promote voluntary compliance and deter non-compliance. The platform will integrate enterprise data warehouse, data mining, web mining, and other such tools for effective outcomes.

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During my 37-year-old career with Income Tax department, I moved from place to place, post to post. For me, every posting was a challenge, and at the same time an opportunity to deliver.

After my retirement as Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes, I was invited by various institutions and NGOs to deliver talks on tax matters. While advising taxpayers across sectors, I noticed, our vast salaried class including armed and paramilitary forces, pensioners or senior citizens, NRIs, professionals and small business establishments need the right guidance. Most taxpayers do comply with their tax obligations fully. Yet, they are not somehow relaxed and are burdened with anxieties. A large number of taxpayers are not even aware that getting tax refund on time is a basic right.

In one such meeting, a middle-aged man quizzed me why could not I give tax advice 24X7. For a moment, I had no answer. He then added that I should give tax solutions online so that he does not need to come from a remote place to attend my lecture. I thanked him for his suggestion.

For a while I was restless. Already I had got myself enrolled as a Member of the Bar Council of Delhi and as an Advocate of Delhi High Court Bar Association, thanks to my law degree from the University of Allahabad. Yet, I was not sure how I could help the vast majority of taxpayers who somehow maintain a safe distance from the taxmen. I then tossed the idea of creating a tax think-tank with some of my former colleagues and highly spirited individuals. All of us immediately agreed on one count: millions of Indian taxpayers expect to access tailor-made tax research materials and seek guidance from those who have been parts of the tax machinery for decades.

That is how CTAR was born. So, be a part of our passionate journey to explain tax laws and rules in simpler words. Just drop us a few lines on any query related to direct and indirect tax or FEMA. We are at your assistance. We also look forward to hearing your experiences while dealing with the system.