Chennai I-T dept to open 40 special counters

The income tax department in Chennai is gearing up to handle the last minute rush. The department will open 40 special counters for senior citizens and the physically-challenged to handle about 250,000 taxpayers, who are expected to submit their returns over the next few days.

CR Ravichandran, chief commissioner of income tax, Chennai, said about 313,941 salaried people filed their returns last year and the department expected about 3.2 lakh salaried people to file their returns this year. The last date to file income tax for those deriving income from salaries is July 31, 2007.

While 70,174 salaried taxpayers submitted their returns as on July 23, about 250,000 taxpayers are expected to submit their returns over the next few days. "The department receives about 65 per cent of returns during the last week," he added.

Thanks to the boom in manufacturing and IT sectors, Tamil Nadu has recorded impressive tax collections in recent years.

Total direct tax collections for the Tamil Nadu region stood at Rs 14,891 crore in 2006-07 and the department expects this to reach Rs 17,400 crore in the fiscal 2008.

"The total collections for 2004-05 stood at Rs 8,344 crore. With expected collections of about Rs 17,400 crore for this year, we will be doubling the total collection in a period of four years," Ravichandran said.

The special counters at the income tax office (Aayakar Bhavan) will function from July 27 to July 31, including July 28-29 (Saturday and Sunday). The department has also planned separate counters for salaried assessees coming within the Tambaram jurisdiction.