ITBA – suggestion -1 E-Filing portal - Income Tax Business Application (ITBA) module – suggestion to provide for uploading of zip file. Rar file etc.

[CA DEV KUMAR KOTHARI]

Important links and references:

Procedure, Formats and Standards for ensuring secured transmission of electronic communication - introduction of E-Proceeding for communication between the Income Tax Department and Assessee- reg.   available at https://www.taxmanagementindia.com/Print/print_notifications.asp?ID=120064

Issue of notices under section 143(2) of Income-tax Act, 1961 in revised format-regd. Available at

https://www.taxmanagementindia.com/Print/print_notifications.asp?ID=120249

Procedure, Formats and Standards for ensuring secured transmission of electronic communication - introduction of E-Proceeding for communication between the Income Tax Department and Assessee- reg.

https://www.taxmanagementindia.com/visitor/detail_notification.asp?ID=120064&kw=Procedure-Formats-and-Standards-for-ensuring-secured-transmission-of-electronic-communication-introduction-of-E-Proceeding-for-communication-between-the-Income-Tax-Department-and-Assessee-reg&Search_text=income%20tax%20business%20applications%20-%20e%20hearing

 ‘E-Proceeding’ – very good initiative:

Income-tax Department has launched ‘E-Proceeding’ facility to make simple communication between the Department and assessee, through electronic means. This obviate necessity to visit Income-tax Office for conduct of assessment proceedings. Author hope that this can be very taxpayer friendly measure and can substantially reduce the compliance cost and burden for the assessee.

This will also enforce feeling of respect of taxpayers by tax department because by this system, a concern towards convenience and value of time of tax payers is shown, expressed and hopefully it will materialize to a great extent.

 In case of personal hearing when assessee or his authorised representatives have to wait for long hours and for many times, it really left the tax payers and their authorised Representatives with a low feeling as if they are very low graded people and the tax authorised are very power full and tax payer is at mercy of tax officers.

Environment friendly:

E-proceeding will also be environment friendly because:

a. Use of paper will be reduced- this will save trees.

b. Travel and transport will reduce so gas and heat transmission will reduce..

c. Lighting for visitors will be reduced.

d.  Anywhere and anytime facility for assessee.

Therefore, besides reducing compliance cost of assessee, the cost of tax administration of government will also reduce.

Only scanned PDF files can be uploaded:

In the ITBA module assessee can upload only scanned PDF files. This must be made flexible and uploading of word files, Xcell sheets, and files through zip file mode should also be allowed.

It has also been experienced that sometimes scanned PDF  files so uploaded are not opening in the computers of AO. This may be due to several reasons like different operating system, different type of scanning and PDF formats and other technical reasons.

There is also limitation for uploading of files at a time. If number of files exceed, then one has to make another submission.

ZIP files:

In case uploading of zip files be introduced in the system/ software  then working of uploading of files by assessee and  opening and  viewing of files by the Assessing Officers will be easy and smoot.  Furthermore, limitation of uploading ten files in one submission will also be removed because in case of ZIP/ RAR files large number of files with more data can be uploaded at a time.

ZIP files formats:

There are many software and formats of ZIP files like WinZip, WinRAR, 7-Zip, PeaZip, GZip,BZip2,

The direct tax department can consult their advisors and choose suitable zip file software. Link of such software  can also be made available to assessee so that he can download the software for uploading files through my account in ITBA.

 

INSTRUCTIONS ISSUED BY CBDT:

Conduct Of Assessment Proceedings Electronically In Time-Barring Scrutiny Cases.

The CBDT has issued Instruction No. 8/2017 dated 29th September 2017 in which it has set out the procedure covering various aspects of conducting scrutiny assessments electronically in cases which are getting barred by limitation during the financial year 2017-2018