Lok Sabha Question No. 2274 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-08
Subject: Income Tax Department
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: P.R. Natarajan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2274

## TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY THE JULY, 2019 17 ASHADHA, 1941 (SAKA)

## SINCOME TAX DEPARTMENT"

## 2274: SH: PR NATARAJAN:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether has taken any   measureslsteps to enhance   the   technology backbone of the Income Tax Department;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether any time frame has been stipulated in this regard; and
- (d) if the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)

(a) & (b): Yes sir: The Government is continuously several initiatives to enhance the technology back bone of the Income Tax Department  (ITD) ITD is a dedicated directorate   called Directorate of  System which handles   the technology aspects of the various  functions of the Department. A brief highlight of the technological developments which are currently implemented include Centralised Processing Centres for Income Tax Returns and TDS returns namely CPC(ITR) and CPC(TDS) respectively, Centralised selection of cases for scrutiny through CASS(Computer Assisted Scrutiny Selection), Nonfiler Monitoring System for managing the non-filers with potential tax liabilities, System driven process for credit of tax refunds directly to the bank accounts of the taxpayers, Enivaran module for resolving the tax-payers' grievances on priority, Centralised receipt of applications of tax-payers through Sevottam Application of Aayakar Seva Kendras etc. In addition to this, the Government has also initiated/proposed to initiate the following projects, as elaborated in the annexure, towards further improving the technology back bone of the ITD which would result in enhanced time bound services to the tax payers in addition to increasing the voluntary compliance of the tax-payers. taking having being

- (c) & (d): As improving the technology backbone of the ITD is a continuous process and various initiatives are taken from time to time, no time frame can be specified. being

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brief highlight of the few technology-oriented projects being implemented/proposed to be implemented by the Government are as follows:

- It  aims to strengthen the non-intrusive information driven approach for improving   compliance and effective utilization of information in all areas of tax administration. Under Project Insight; an integrated data   warehousing and business intelligence platform is being rolled out in phased manner to enable ITD in meeting the three namely (i) to promote voluntary compliance and deter noncompliance; (ii) to impart confidence that all eligible persons pay appropriate tax; and (iii) to promote fair and judicious tax administration: The current status of implementation is a8 under: goals
- i. A State-of-the-Art Data warehouse has been implemented under Project Insight with endintegration of projects/data sources of ITD. Income Tax Transaction Analysis Centre (INTRAC) has also been   operationalized for   handling data   integration; data warehousing; data   quality management; data enrichment and data analytics. The new platform is used for identifying high risk non-filers, selection of cases for scrutiny and processing of  information received under FATCA etc. of-day key being
- A dedicated reporting portal (https:Ilreport insight-gov.in) has been rolled out to provide a comprehensive   interface between  Reporting Entities   and the ITD. The  Reporting  Portal enables seamless data processing, data quality monitoring and report rectification.
- iii. A dedicated compliance portal (https://compliance insight-gov.in) has been rolled out to capture   response on compliance   issues in a structured manner   for  effective compliance monitoring and evaluation. Compliance Management Central Processing Centre (CMCPC) has also been operationalized for leveraging campaign management approach (consisting of emails, SMS reminders, outbound calls,  letters) resolution of compliance issues
- iv. The complete roll out of the Project Insight will be in 2019.
2. Real Time PAN-TAN centre: Real Time PANITAN Processing Centre (RTPC) is contemplated for future with the objective of allotment of e-PAN through Aadhaar based eKYC on near to real time basis (in less than 10 minutes) Presently, steps are taken by the ITD to further reduce the time required to allot PAN, particularly for the applicant' S applying  through Aadhaar based e-KYC  route, by bringing suitable upgradation in the allotment processes and infrastructure\_ being being
3. E- proceeding facility for the conduct of scrutiny assessment proceedings: In a significant Application (ITBA) for electronic conduct of various   functions/proceedings   including assessments. This is integrated with the E-filing' portal which is used by the tax payers to electronically   communicate with the ITD the course of  assessment   proceeding; Assessing Officer is required to send communications through the Assessment Module of ITBA which is delivered in the 'E-filing account of concerned tax-payer: Upon receipt of departmental   communication; the   tax-payer is able to submit the response   along with attachments by uploading the same through his E-filing'  account on the *E-filing' portal (www.incometaxindiaefiling-gov.in). The response submitted by the tax-payer is viewed by the Assessing Officer electronically in ITBA. This has minimised the interface between the assessing officer and the tax payers and has made the process ofassessment non-intrusive and tax-payer   friendly. Further; vide Instruction No.1/2018 dated 12.02.2018 and Instruction No.3/2018 dated 20.08.2018, CBDT has   directed that  assessment  proceedings are to be conducted  electronically   compulsorily   through E-proceeding'  during  the financial year 2018-19 in all type of cases barring a few exceptions specified therein are taken to deepen this process this year: step; During Steps being
4. CPC(TDS) 2.0: CPC(TDS)   project has undertaken end-to-end   processing of TDS statements through a rule-based technology enabled system for seamless flow of data for taxcredits.  In the next phase of CPC (TDS) ie. CPC (TDS) 2.0, focus has been   made on recognizing   technology led innovations with   respect to emerging   technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Analytics and Blockchain to further improvement in  service delivery: bring
5. CPC (ITR 2.0): The    Government has approved  Integrated E-filing & Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) 2.0 Project of the Income Tax CPC 2.0 Project   envisages   pre-filling of ITRs by the Income-tax   Department and its acceptance by the taxpayer s0 as to improve accuracy of information contained in the Return and drastically  reduce the existing  turnaround time taken  in  processing of Returns and issuance of refunds\_ CPC 2.0 Project besides   promoting the Government objective of promoting voluntary tax-compliance culture would also smoothen the process of e-filing and processing of ITRs and will also about a significant enhancement in services to the taxpayers\_ bring