The income tax department to implement pre-filled income tax returns from the year 2020 making the return filing and refund process a one-day affair.
The cabinet last day cleared an ambitious Rs 4,242-crore project for integrated e-filing and centralised processing. The project will reduce the return processing and refund time from the current average of 63 days, railway minister Piyush Goyal said.
The government is building in an incentive for the service provider to process refunds in a day and there will be a penalty in case the work is not completed within 30 days, sources in the tax department told TOI.
The project will be implemented by Infosys will take around 18 months, in time for filing of returns in 2020.
Some elements of the new project may be implemented under the current system as well. Once the new mechanism is in place, taxpayers will get a pre-filed form in their income tax account which will have their name, Permanent Account Number (PAN) and other details, a tax officer said.
The columns related to salary, interest income and tax deducted at source captured in the 26AS forms will also be there. Taxpayers can add to the form by adding other income that may have accrued but not reported to the tax department earlier, said an officer.
In recent years, processing of returns has picked up and the tax department is also issuing refunds faster.
“By faster processing of returns and issue of refunds to the taxpayer’s bank account directly without any interface with the department, by adhering to international best practices and standards (ISO certification) and by providing processing status updates and speedy communication using mobile app, email, SMS and on the department website, the decision will ensure transparency and accountability,” an official statement said.
