E-FILING CATCHES ON IN INDIA

As many as 12.49 lakh income tax returns were filed online this year up to 31st July—more than 8 times the figure for up to 31st July last year! In fact, 97% of these returns were filed voluntarily, meaning, by Individuals and Non-Corporates (Corporates and Large firms have to compulsorily e-file their returns).

Only about a third of these returns were filed using the free software available on the income tax department’s website. This is a positive sign as it shows that private players are now in a position to share the government’s workload. And that is how it should be. Going forward, we might see the majority of returns being prepared and filed through either e-Return Intermediaries or simply prepared using private players’ websites but filed on the Department’s website.

In any progressive economy, the more administrative-type functions are handled by the private sector. The government limits itself to playing certain core roles which others can’t play; e.g. national defence, law-making, policing, judiciary, revenue collection and budgetary allocation etc. Going by the present trend, India fits well in this category of nations.