Finance ministry to hire people to help new taxpayers file returns: CNBC

The Finance ministry proposes to recruit 5,000 people in 80 cities to help the self-employed, small businesses and salaried people to file tax returns. CNBC-TV18 finds that the finance ministry is eying the non-agricultural rural income, much of which escapes the tax net.

When the finance ministry talks about revenue share, it means the revenue department getting a share of someone else's revenue or income.

But this time around, it's talking about sharing the tax department's collection. This is how it proposes to attract tax return preparers, 5,000 of them across 80 cities by February, and also rope in new taxpayers.

These preparers will get 3 per cent of the tax paid by new asssees in the first year, 2 per cent in the second year and 1 per cent in the third. From existing taxpayers they can charge up to Rs250 per return.

NIIT has been given the Rs5 crore contract for training the tax preparers for nine days, after 15 days of self-study. Graduates in law, economics, statistics, math, commerce and statistics are eligible. Tax preparers will get a completion certificate and an identity card allowing them to practice.

Last year, 1.3 crore persons, including companies, filed tax returns, that is a 30 per cent. So far this year, direct tax collections have grown by 38 per cent the target of 27 per cent.

The finance minister says 45 per cent of rural income is non-agricultural, and therefore taxable. Tax preparers will not only facilitate the filing of returns, they will also have an incentive to act as ears of the tax department.