I-T dept to set up 70 more Aaykar Sampark Kendras this fiscal

Seventy more centres will be established across the country in the ongoing fiscal for tax payers to file returns, check refund status and to redress their grievances.

The 70 Aaykar Sampark Kendras (ASKs) or computerised I-T centres will be in addition to the 189 such centres which provide single-window service to taxpayers.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has decided that these centres should preferably be set up in relatively bigger stations where senior I-T officers are posted.

"The project is decentralised and funds will be allocated to your region for setting up of ASK centres," said the CBDT communication to Chief Commissioners of Income Tax, adding that the matter needs to be dealt urgently.

Among others, the new Aaykar Sampark Kendras will be set up at Mandi, Barmer, Latur, Hassan, Tirupur, Chindwara, Faizabad, Azamgarh, Darbhanga, Jorhat, Tuticorin, Churu, Jhansi, Saharanpur, Dibrugarh and Gobindgarh.

The tax department has posted authorised Tax Return Preparers (TRPs) at the new centres to help individual taxpayers with regard to their queries and filing of I-T returns.

These centres also have been provided with a dedicated desk for receiving PAN (Permanent Account Number) and TAN (Tax Deduction Account Number) applications through authorised representatives of NSDL and UTIISL, the agencies which prepare these documents on behalf of the I-T department.

As many as 2.96 crore individuals have filed income tax returns online during 2013-14.