The office of the Chief Commissioner (CC) of Income Tax has requested all tax-payers of the region to pay their income tax and other related taxes before March 31, the closing of the financial year 2006-07.

The office of the CC believes that people should not wait till the last date and pay their taxes as soon as possible to avoid inconvenience and rush before the closing date.

Usually people wait till the last moment and there is a heavy rush to pay taxes and, sometimes, people have to wait till midnight. There is a holiday at the end of the month besides the weekend. We want to avoid the rush. Please come now. There are no long queues! an income tax official said.

The department has warned defaulters that they will have to pay interest under section 234B if they miss the March 31 deadline. There is a possibility of a bank strike on March 26. March 27 is again a bank holiday because of Ramnavmi. Taxes to be paid are advance tax, self assessment tax and tax on regular assessment.