I-T dept grapples with duplicate TANs

The income tax department is battling not just with the issue of duplicate Permanent Account Numbers, but also with duplicate Tax Deduction Account Numbers (TANs).

Companies need to quote their TANs when they file returns for tax deducted at source and tax collected at source.

The problem the department is facing is that while the TAN database has become huge, the number of corresponding TDS return filers is considerably fewer.

As per the data compiled by the tax department, around 16 lakh TANs have been allotted so far, of which the allotment during the last three years alone was Rs 7.5 lakh. For these, the number of TDS returns filed electronically is just around 2.7 lakh.

"The low level of e-TDS returns filed could be on account of the fact that at present only corporate and government deductors have to compulsorily file electronically. Also, the compliance among government departments regarding TDS is low," an official said.

Officials said the department had recently identified a large number of duplicate TANs. It also identified another problem: defunct TANs that were obtained but was never used to file TDS or TCS returns.

Allotments of TAN is done by the National Securities Depository Ltd or the Regional Computer Centres (RCC). Officials said it had been seen in many cases that the TAN allotment was not as per the jurisdiction order.

They said allotting a second TAN to the same person could be on account of the software ignoring important validation checks.

Multiple TANs result in high non-filers or stop filers, an official said, adding that the tax department was of the view that strict validation checks were needed to avoid creation of duplicate TANs.

The department has also asked its systems wing to develop a software to identify and remove duplicate TANs.