IT e-filing: Far from reality
Deepika Thapliyal
Friday, July 10, 2009
(Mumbai)
Filing of tax returns may just be a mouse click away, but the queues at income tax offices aren't getting any shorter as people still prefer the good old way of paying taxes.
Data shows that last fiscal, out of the three crore tax returns only 4 per cent or 11 lakh returns were filed electronically. This year the number could go up to around 10 per cent, which experts term as encouraging but not good enough.
Parizad Sirwalla, a partner of tax at BSR & Co, said, โEven now, hard copy is preferred. Individuals have yet got used to the idea, as the trust factor is there plus people with complicated sources of income outsource it to a CA. Also some cost is associated with online, but this business should grow."
Yet a dozen e-filing firms have mushroomed across the country, most set up in the last one year and are bullish about doing brisk business, charging their clients anywhere between Rs 100 to Rs 800.
Ravi Jagannathan, MD and CEO of 3i Infotech Consumer Services, said, โThis year we are expecting 10 per cent of the total filers at least to file online. A lot of users who filed last year are filing well in advance and we are seeing lot of references made by them to their friends. Regulators are also supporting this in a big way."
Meanwhile, with July 31 being the deadline for salaried persons to file their returns, a clearer picture should emerge in the next two weeks as most online filing is done in the last minute, but until doubts over authenticity and secrecy go away, the paper filing method will remain popular.