All IT Dept Related Proceedings Between Taxpayer And Taxman Will Be Online From Next Fiscal

Digitisation is set to transform the dealings between the taxman and the taxpayer with all Income Tax department-related transactions to go online from the new fiscal, Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT) has declared.

A new link or window called 'e-proceeding' will soon be installed on the e-filing website of the tax department, which is used by taxpayers to file their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) currently. The website has been linked to the internal online business application portal of the tax department and the taxpayer will not have to visit the I-T office to clarify scrutiny issues and solve grievances related to his or her refunds or tax filing, among others.

Once a taxpayer registers on the web portal, he or she will get a confirmation SMS and email on their registered mobile number and email ID, indicating success. All e-communication by the taxman to the taxpayer will bear the official email of the assessing officer (AO) with the email domain being '@incometax.gov.in'.

The CBDT said the e-communication is "applicable to all proceedings under the Income Tax Act, 1961 under this notification as enabled from time to time". It added that timelines will also be set for the new process to work smoothly and with all legal sanctity to such processes.

However, the taxpayer still has the choice to visit the I-T department and manually submit documents. The online initiative is part of efforts to minimise human interaction between the assessee and the AO, in a hope to reduce chances of harassment and corruption.