Cyber cafes can help in e-filing

Speaking at a seminar on value added tax organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), in Kolkata on Monday, H K Dwivedi, commissioner-commercial taxes, West Bengal, said, the I-T department would soon float expression of interests inviting cyber cafe owners, for setting up government authorized common service centres.

The centres would help streamline the fees charged by service providers for the e-tax filing and returns, as at present some of them charged as high as Rs 600 for assisting dealers in tax-related matters.

At present there are about 10,000 dealers are in the e-filing net, and the government hopes to increase the number to 25,000 by the end of this fiscal.

"At present SBI is the only bank to facilitate e-filing. We plan to rope in several other banks for the purpose," said Dwivedi.

This apart, the government will also take steps to ease the process of issuance of way bills and C- forms.

For this, the government will grade the dealers according to their track record in tax filing and and returns.

"Those dealers who have payed tax on time, filed for returns and utilised way bills properly will be called class A dealers," Dwivedi said.

Also, the dealers would be entitled to get way bills for six months at a time.

The state will also start e-issuance of way bills by the next quarter. For the issuance of C forms, a hybrid of electronic and manual system would be in place, he added.

Also, the new rules for refund to exporters, based in the state, would be introduced by August.

Under the new rules, the state would be bound by law to refund at least 50 per cent of tax within six months of submission of application seeking returns.

The remaining 50 per cent would be given in the next six months. According to Dwivedi, West Bengal will be the first state in the country to introduce such a measure.