Govt Targets 1 Crore Additional I-T Assessees In 2001-02

The government has fixed a target of adding 1 crore income-tax assessees in 2001-02 to the existing list of 2.48 crore as on March 31, 2001.

Finance ministry sources said the target for the current financial year was quite stiff considering the fact that as against the plan of adding 57 lakh new assessees in 2000-01, only 36 lakh assessees were added.

They pointed out that each region would now have to increase the number by 40 per cent during the current fiscal to meet the target of around 3.5 crore assessees by the end of the year.

According to a senior revenue department official, the implementation of the one-by-six scheme will be crucial to achieve the target and will require sustained efforts on the part of the income-tax department to identify the potential taxpayers and ensure filing of returns by them.

He added that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had contemplated a strategy to achieve the target. Under the CBDT gameplan, the responsibility of ensuring that all taxable entities submit their returns will be fixed on the territorial ranges.

The territorial ranges will compile a list of persons satisfying one or more of the six economic criteria but not filing returns of income, and take appropriate action for submission of returns of such persons.

Each territorial range will also prepare a street directory of the assessees in their range.

The street directory will give address-wise information relating to the six economic criteria.

Preparation of a street directory is essential as the budget for 2001-02 has extended the one-by-six scheme to all urban areas with a population of over 5,000, thereby increasing the number of centres covered under the scheme from 133 to 4,989.

The revenue department official said that under the multi-pronged strategy to ensure additional revenue generation through widening of the tax base, it had been proposed to maintain the