The Central Board of Direct Taxes, Pune region, has collected a whopping Rs 14,800 crore in financial year 2009-10, up Rs 1,900 crore from the previous fiscal, a 14.7 per cent growth. This is well above the national growth of 10.5 per cent. The growth rate in tax collections of Pune region exceeded that of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Hyderabad regions.

CBDT Pune region comprises the state of Maharashtra excluding Mumbai and Vidarbha.

S.K.Ambastha, additional commissioner, IncomeTax, co-ordination, Pune said that the growth is a result of the resilience and dynamism of the regions economy. The good results are due to the adherence to tax compliance and increased faith of taxpayers in tax administration. Corporate Tax collections registered an increase of about 27 per cent, as compared to only 11 per cent last year, echoing the buoyancy in the economy due to the fiscal stimulus provided by the government. The personal (non-corporate) tax also grew at about 5 per cent, compared to negative growth last year, he said

During the financial year 2009-10, refunds amounting to Rs 1,373 crores were issued, up by Rs 419 crores (or 44 per cent more) over the last year. 27.73 lakh returns claiming refunds were processed during the year, as compared to 26.67 lakh returns processed last year.

The Refund Banker Scheme operational in Pune from 1.10.2009, has witnessed increased efficiency in the refund delivery system, better service of taxpayers, and has reduced their refund related grievances, he said.The post-assessment tax collection of Rs 924 crores has witnessed a growth of about 23 per cent over last year. The TDS collections of Rs. 6,603 crores is up by about 13 per cent over last year.

The Aayakar Seva Kendra (ASK) or Taxpayer Facilitation Centre, started at the Income Tax Office at Akurdi in May, 2009, as a one-stop computerised window for efficient and hassle-free taxpayer services under the Sevottam Scheme of the Central Government has got Service Quality Management Systems Certificate by the Bureau of Indian Standards, for efficient quality service rendered to the taxpayers.

This certification for excellence in public delivery system is the first-of-its-kind to be received by IncomeTax Department, and Pune office is the only centre in the country to receive it . More than 1.43 lakh returns were received through computerised system in ASK Centre, besides 2367 grievance letters of which, 1,449 grievances were resolved, said Ambastha.