Resolve all grievances of tax payers pending for more than 6 Months by 31st Dec 2021 – Pr. Commissioner Income Tax to officers of J&K
Srinagar, 11 Dec 2021: In the finale to their outreach programmes across the UT of J&K and Ladakh, Taxpayers Awareness Campaign, ‘Mulaqaat’ was conducted today in Srinagar. The proceedings were chaired by Shri M.P Singh, IRS Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Srinagar, Sh. Rajiv Gubgotra, Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, Smt. Abhishri, Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Sh. Danish Gill, Deputy Commissioner CGST and Sh. Abid, Addl. Commissioner in Div. Comm.’s office were also present besides other officers of Income Tax Department.
The officers of Income Tax Department and GST Department interacted with the tax payers, business community, small traders and businessmen and members of organised trade body representatives viz. hotel industries, travel agents’ associations, chemist’s association, handicrafts, carpet industry, CAs and advocates were also present. The objective of the programme was to take feedback and concrete suggestions from the stakeholders and listen to their grievances besides spreading awareness amongst the taxpayers regarding Income Tax and other issues with regard to GST.
Shri M.P. Singh urged the locals of Srinagar to pay their taxes diligently and come under the tax ambit without any fear as both the Income Tax and CGST departments have undergone a sea change in the past few years. He emphasised that the objective of establishing the newly inaugurated office in Srinagar, with a senior level officer overseeing the entire charge of Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, is to make the Department more accessible to the people of J&K. Through this office the Department aspires to establish a consistent tax base here on a large scale, encourage voluntary compliance, ensure swift grievance redressal, conduct taxpayer outreach programmes, generate awareness to educate taxpayers and spread financial literacy with respect to taxation matters, all the while upholding the principle of taxpayer facilitation for the people of J&K. Sh. M.P Singh further promised the taxpayers that if any of their grievances were pending for more than 6 months, his officers would resolve them by 31st December 2021. He further directed all his officers to facilitate resolution of all queries put up in the ASK (Aayakar Seva Kendra) Centre of the Income Tax Office from 11 AM to 1 PM on a daily basis.
Beyond this, feedback from the people was taken by the officers regarding taxation issues and their aspirations from the Union Budget. Mr. Sheikh Ashiq, President of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry requested for increased focus on exports from Kashmir, establishment of a carpet village to promote the carpet manufacturing industries of Kashmir, tax relief for the loss incurring tourism sector, relief for those whose GST registrations were cancelled and reduction in corporate tax slab rates. Mr. Showkat Chouwdhary spoke about the need for initiating industrial electrical connections for Srinagar’s Tourism Industries. The need to boost purchases from local MSMEs was highlighted by Mr. Qadir Jamini. Representing the Chemists and druggists of Srinagar, Mr. Fayaz requested that such awareness and interaction programmes be continued extensively in the valley to educate and guide the willing locals of Kashmir as to how they can become honest and proud taxpayers of the nation. Ms. Smriti Kohli, a local CA, drew attention to the need for educating the DDOs and government employees regarding TDS provisions and TDS return filing in order to avoid late filing fees. Mr. Khan, a local from Srinagar, appreciated the Vivaad Se Vishwaas Scheme launched by the Income Tax Department and how it had helped the taxpayers extensively in clearing their liabilities. He further requested that such innovative schemes be continued to be devised for taxpayers’ facilitation and ease of compliance.
Overall, it was a highly constructive and fruitful interactive session where the voices, thoughts and ideas of the locals from Srinagar were heard and recorded, where Sh. M.P Singh emphasised that the Income Tax and CGST Departments are ‘humrahi’ i.e partners in the development of Jammu & Kashmir.
