Govt made e-filing compulsory for corporate

The Central Board of Direct Taxes, CBDT has enforced to corporates to file their tax via electronic payment system from the coming fiscal year 2008.

According to CBDT, now e-filing for direct tax to the corporate assesses would be mandatory from April 01, which was not essential so far to pay their tax under this mode of payment. But Finance Minister P Chidambaram wants to enhance and popularise this mode of payment to cut the load of paper filing, which was not so comfortable and fast in process.

For popularising this mode of payment, e-filling has been made easy and no hard paper is essential to attach with the filling form, informed CBDT in a statement.

According to Tax rule provision of section 44 AB, tax filling through electronic mode was essential for those corporates whose annual turn over was more than Fourty lakhs rupees, but now since new fiscal it would be essential for all business firms to fill the direct tax through electronic mode system.

The tax can be paid through debit cards, credit cards, electronic clearance system (ECS) or internet transaction offered by any authorised banks. However, as much as only 18 banks are authorised so far which offer the e-payment facilities.

It is our hope that other remaining banks would also offer Internet banking facility by April 1,” the CBDT official said.

Nowadays, only four banks SBI, AXIS, HDFC and ICICI banks are popular in electronic mode of banking.

Despite promoting e-filling way of payment, government of India could collect only 1% part of the total direct tax last year. The Centre is eyeing to collect an estimate target of Rs. 2,67,490 crore for the coming fiscal 2007-08 as against Rs. 2,29,272 of the last year’s collected tax.