As a taxpayer service measure, a Taxpayer Outreach program was organised by the Income Tax Office, Range-6, Mohali of Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax-2, Chandigarh charge on 26th February 2019 to generate awareness among our assessees with outstanding tax demands demands, located primarily in rural areas. The outreach has been organised in the new Income Tax offices of Range-6, Mohali at Livestock Complex, Sector-68, Mohali at 12:00 PM. In this initiative that is the first of its kind, the Pr Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Sri Binay K Jha IRS had directed the officers to reach out to these first time taxpayers and ease their entry into the taxpayer family. Hence this outreach with all the officers present to guide and advise them on how to file for a stay of demand outstanding if required and file appeals with the Commissioner of Income Tax. Form-35 for filing of appeals online had been translated into Punjabi for ease of taxpayers. Sh. Amresh Singh CIT(Appeals) was also present to interact with the taxpayers.On interaction with Assessing Officers it is learnt that outstanding demand is largely on account of taxpayers whose land was acquired/purchased, and who do not appear to be aware of I. T. Act, provisions. There was thus a requirement to reach out to them, preferably through district administration that they deal with regularly to bring them into the tax fold. Hence liaison was made with District administration and all the cases of rural assessees where assessments had been made exparte, i.e. where the taxpayer had not cooperated in the tax proceedings and others were identified and sorted village-wise. With the support of the District Administration, the officers of Range-6 have reached out to all these taxpayers through this outreach program with a view to facilitate them in meeting their tax liabilities as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 which includes
(i) Advising about the options available under the Income Tax Act, 1961 to file an appeal, before CIT(A).
(ii) Giving taxpayer service and Facilitating, encouraging and helping them understand the need to deposit the outstanding tax, and getting partial stay of demand, in specific circumstances.
(iii) Informing them regarding options to get their grievances if any redressed through means such as CPGRAMS and e-nivaran.
The program commenced with an “Ardaas” for thanks giving and was followed by Langar. The program was presided over by Sh. Binay K. Jha, Pr. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, NWR, Chandigarh who inaugurated the new offices and the taxpayer outreach. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Panchkula Mrs. Sonali Arora, was the Guest of Honour. The Chief guest stated that in order to build a strong and self reliant India, it was necessary that the Department, Members of the Bar and the taxpayers as joint Stake Holders work together to maximize tax collection. The new office and the Rural Taxpayers Outreach Program was meant to deliver good taxpayer services and assist in compliance by the assessees. Senior officers of the Department including Mrs. Poonam Sidhu Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax-2, Chandigarh, Sh. Rameshwar Singh Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax, Panchkula, Comissioner TDS (Panchkula) Manoj Mishra, Director I&CI Sandeep Dahiya, Commissioner HQ &TPS Rammohan Tewari, Comissioner TDS (Chandigarh) Paresh Johri, Commissioner Exemptions Rammohan Singh, Commissioner Appeals-1 Gulshan Raj, Commissioner Appeals-2 Amaresh Singh, Commissioner. All officers of Range-6, Mohali headed by Ms. Neha Chaudhary, Addl.Commissioner of Income Tax, and DCIT, Circle-6(1), Sh. Lalit Vishnoi, ITO Ward-6(1), Ms. Rajinder Kaur, ITO Ward-6(2) Sh. Rajeev Lochan, ITO Ward-6(3) Sh. Chandresh Kumar, ITO Ward-6(4) Smt. Dalwinder Kaur and ITO Ward-6(5) Sh. Jagmohan Vaid conducted the Tax Outreach. Members of the Income Tax and Sales Tax Bar Association, Advocates and Chartered Accountants were also present for the program.Sh. Binay K. Jha, IRS Pr Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, NWR holds jurisdiction over the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and U.T. Chandigarh. An officer of 1983 Batch of the IRS, Sh. Binay K. Jha is a tax administrator with a difference: The Green Plastic Initiative of vertical gardens on walls of buildings using waste plastic bottles, to reduce atmospheric pollution and regulate temperatures while using only 8% water compared to regular irrigation has made it to the Limca Book of Records. So has the taxpayer outreach program involving the Oath of “Swacch Bharat Swacch Dhan” where around 4 lakh Schoolchildren of Ludhiana were administered this Oath in a single day on 14th September 2017. In an another initiative, school children of over 200 Schools were motivated to send over 2.15 lakh New Year cards to Soldiers serving on the borders. The program called School Se Sarhad Tak, built a connect between future taxpayers and the defense establishment funded by taxpayer money, so critical to the nations security. In yet another social service initiative children of migrant labour in Ludhiana are being provided education.