Arun Jaitley launches e-Sahyog, PAN camps to improve services of income tax department

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday launched eSahyog and Pan camps, initiatives of the Income Tax Department to improve services.

Through eSahyog he launched the paperless initiative of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) under which notices to assesses would be sent to their emails.

The PAN camps are aimed at expanding the coverage of number of people through Permanent Account Number (PAN). Currently there are 23 crore people with PAN card.

The expansion of Number of PAN card holders would help the government implement the budget proposal of mandatory quoting of PAN for cash transaction of Rs 1 lakh.

The tax department has already started a pilot project of using e-mails for sending notices, getting replies as well as carrying out tax assessments in an attempt to make sure taxpayers don't have to visit I-T offices physically in smaller cases.

The government in the Budget had announced that quoting of PAN ((Permanent Account Number) will be mandatory for any purchase or sale exceeding Rs 1 lakh. But concerns were raised about complying with this condition because not everyone, particularly in rural areas, possesses a PAN card.

To facilitate people to get PAN cards, the government plans to launch camps across the country.