I-T needs better tech support

he travails of the Indian income tax payers are unlikely to end soon with the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman setting a new deadline of September 15 for software services major Infosys Limited to fix the glitches in the portal which was set up to make online filing of returns and tax payment easier. The portal, www.incometax.gov.in, was launched on June 7 but started throwing up issues soon after. It is a sad commentary on the whole affair that the finance minister of India, touted as the software hub of the world, had to intervene in an otherwise routine affair twice in the last three months. She was first forced to go public a couple of weeks after the launch, asking the service provider to address the issues tax payers started facing. Last week, the ministry said it had summoned the company top brass after the portal was shut for two days. The ministry said after the meeting that Ms Sitharaman expressed deep disappointment with the working of the portal before setting up a new deadline.

It is estimated that there are over 8.46 crore individual registered users for the portal and every one of them would vouch for the customer-friendly changes that have visited the income tax department over the decades. The arrogant, tax-payer unfriendly, victimiser image the department had donned during the pre-liberalisation era has given way to an amenable, friendly organisation. Filing of I-T returns and availing of refunds have become an easy, quick process. Government policies, technology and better sensitisation of people concerned have all played their role in the metamorphosis.

The finance minister had in the last budget talked of making the taxation processes faceless for ease of compliance and to reduce discretion. But every such initiative will be frustrated without the backing of technology. Time the department and the technology providers put their best foot forward and presented the tax-payer with the best experience.