Filing the income tax return is now more of leisure rather than a taxing affair, courtesy, a gesture by officials and employees on duty at the office of joint commissioner of Income Tax (JCIT) Mohali.

Approach the helpdesk, submit your papers and have a cup of tea with snacks while the IT man checks your papers- such are the arrangements the IT men from Mohali have made for 60,000-odd IT assessees who would be filing their I-T returns at counters set up in Mohalis Phase-VI Industrial Area.

A dozen-odd men of various ranks have been deputed at six special counters set up by commissioner of Income Tax (CIT) Chandigarh for assessees dwelling in Mohali, Derabassi and Kharar sub-divisions. Fourteen-odd counters have been set up at Rajasthan Bhawan Sector-33 where tax assessees from Chandigarh will be filing their returns.

Around 32,000 assessees from the three sub-divisions are learned to have filed their income tax returns till Wednesday evening. Generally, the assessees carry a different impression about IT department and the men working therein. But this effort will force locals to change their thinking, Capt (retd) Gurcharan Singh, a senior citizen and entrepreneur, said.

A visit to the Phase-VI Industrial Area counters revealed that besides serving the assessees with water, the helpdesk men would guide them to the sitting areas where they would be entertained with tea and snacks.
Speaking to The Times of India, Manjeet Singh, JCIT Mohali, claimed an increase in number of assessees wanting to file their IT returns from counters set up in Mohali. Assessees generally complain about lack of certain facilities while filing income tax returns. Thus, this time, we decided to make this small gesture. Our efforts are paying off, Singh said.

Endorsing Singhs view, JP Dhiman, general secretary of District Mohali Income Tax Bar Association, said, Initially, we were skeptical about it, but efforts have given encouraging results. Clients, who would earlier simply ask us to file the returns, now prefer accompanying us to the counters here, Dhiman said.
Speaking to TOI, PC Modi, commissioner of Income Tax (CIT) tax deduction at source, called for extension of the gesture to those filing returns at counters being set up at Chandigarh.