The Hindu Business Line : I-T Dept launches quarterly filing of e-TDS returns

THE Income-Tax Department, in a strong bid to move into a paperless regime through the full-fledged online filing of TDS (tax deduction at source) returns at the shortest possible time, has introduced (from the current quarter) the quarterly filing of e-TDS returns for corporate and Government deductors.

The department has outsourced the services for the receipt part of the e-TDS returns, including the quarterly statements, to National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), the designated e-intermediary for this purpose. NSDL has already set up facilities all over the country for handling the work.

The NSDL will digitalise the data on the return form and transmit it electronically to the e-filing server of the department under digital signatures.

The entire work will be executed with the help of the New Delhi-based Tax Information Network (TIN), which is jointly hosted by the department and NSDL.

Paper returns will, however, continue for other assessees.

While the Income-Tax Act requires all corporate and Government tax deductors to compulsorily file their TDS returns electronically, for other deductors it is optional. The Director General of Income-Tax, Systems, is the designated e-filing Administrator for this purpose.

Talking to Business Line here recently on the new e-initiatives of the department, Mr P. C. Sinha, Chief Commissioner of Income-tax, Kolkata-1, said corporate and Government deductors will now have to file their returns in soft media with NSDL, which, in turn, will find its way to the department's Regional Computer Centres via the TIN centres after data digitalisation.

While the annual e-TDS returns have been filed online for quite sometime now, the quarterly statements signals a quantum jump in the e-filing of TDS returns, he pointed out.

He said the procedure for tax payment has already been simplified through the introduction of an Online Tax Accounting System (OLTAS). He said 16 TDS forms have now been integrated into just three. A grievance-filing facility through the Web is now in the pipeline.

Asked whether the Form 16 as it exists now will eventually become redundant once the demat of TDS certificates is achieved, Mr G. Choudhuri, Commissioner of Income Tax, Computer Operations, Kolkata, said it will remain in force until the full demat process for TDS returns is well in place. The Income Tax Officers will now work on the TDS data online, speeding up the work, it is pointed out. Some 1.8 lakh TDS returns were processed online during 2004-05. Mr Choudhuri said the TDS return has to be prepared in the data format issued by the Administrator.

He said validation software is available along with the data structure, which should be used.

Explaining NSDL's role, Mr T. J. Koshi, Senior Vice-President, NSDL, Mumbai, said NSDL has developed an MS-Excel-based facility called Return Preparation Utility (RPU-Light) to enable deductors to prepare their e-TDS/e-TCS (tax collected at source) returns.

A RPU for the quarterly returns will be made available on the NSDL Web site shortly. Once the return has been filed as per the format, it will be verified using the file validation utility provided by NSDL.

According to Mr Koshi, NSDL, which already has in place a massive depository platform, has already handled e-TDS returns for two seasons and is fully geared up to tackle the work flow. "I can tell you that all our systems, along with our well-developed agency network, are in place and we are fully equipped to handle the work in the most transparent way," he pointed out.

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