Dealing with any government office is always a nightmare, or at least perceived to as. Perfunctory clerks, their unfriendly - at times, uncooperative - attitudes, long queues, ill lit premises, abominable stench, colourful language and similar attributes are prototyped with the government offices, in general. Hence, when my friend decided to personally visit the sectional Income Tax (I-T) office to deposit the I-T Returns, I had a sepia tinted reverie of the purported office. I checked the website of the I-T department. They had provided an option to submit the form online. I consulted a few experienced colleagues regarding the online option. Their replies were not very encouraging. I resorted to ET. It carried a report that the TDS submitted by corporations since the fiat issued in October'06 had refunds to the tune of 27 thousand crores due (yet). I decided to file manual, pronto. Besides, the Finance department in my corporation had done a good job in preparing Form 16. The requisite values were properly listed and well highlighted. Filling the ITR-1 hence came out to be pretty simple affair. However, I must mention that the IIM graduates who have reportedly helped in redesigning the I-T return form have gobbled tax payers money for no good. The form is as silly as it was last year. They have increased the number of forms viz. ITR-1 to ITR-8 and added a funny acknowledgement form - ITR V - that is almost a replica of ITR-1.
Ergo, both of us went to the sectional I-T office today. When we had tried our luck to find its address on I-T website, it showed an address that later turned out to be the address of the I-T help centre and not the I-T office. The only grace was, the experienced colleagues had forewarned us about the outdatedness of the site and informed us about the correct office address. Luckily, it happened to be quite close to my office complex. With the form ready and address handy, we chalked out the plan to go and file the return. The horrid reverie made a fast forward again, nevertheless.
After a three minute drive, we reached the I-T office. Surprisingly, there were no queues. My friend went to the nearby grocery shop and ascertained whether the office under the board of I-T Department was open. Bewildered, we went inside. Surprise number two: The rooms were AC and there were coolers in subordinates' halls. Moreover, the cabins had fine upholstery. The junior staff was sitting in well lit workplaces too. We both looked at each other, bemused. This time, I asked the bystander whether we were in right office. He reassured. We probed further. A person or two were standing at a counter. On closer inspection, we spotted the ITR-1 and ITR-V in their hands; stamped. We enqueued. In less than 3 minutes, the officer behind the glass partition requisitioned for my forms. Click...Click...Stamp...Stamp...Stamp. He returned my the ITR-V form back. Process over! My friend had not even taken his forms out by then. To my astonishment, while he fumbled, the officer serviced the person behind him in the queue. My friend, for that matter, is a tech savvy guy. He is quite unused to such hardships of life; paper forms, signatures, et al. He had preferred the online submission route, ignoring my apprehensions of the Luddite I-T department staffers. Hence, he was to submit the system generated acknowledgement cum return form at the counter. When he did so, the officer, whom I was yet looking at, with an awe of admiration, reverted back to his usual incarnation. 'Not accepted here', he retorted pointing at the form duo. My friend quoted the online submission route. He replied with audible grunts. After fiddling with the papers for a few seconds, he tossed them aside and demanded Form 16 to be attached therewith. I reminded him of the notification that the returning officer is to detach and return the Form 16, in case it is supplied superfluously. He shot a curt glance. Offended or otherwise, he grabbed the bunch of papers repeated the click-n-stamp activity again, mechanically, and thrust them back in my friends hands. We thanked, rather generously, and slipped.
As they say, great an effort you entail, the dog's tail never dodges. Let's be optimistic though. :)
Ergo, both of us went to the sectional I-T office today. When we had tried our luck to find its address on I-T website, it showed an address that later turned out to be the address of the I-T help centre and not the I-T office. The only grace was, the experienced colleagues had forewarned us about the outdatedness of the site and informed us about the correct office address. Luckily, it happened to be quite close to my office complex. With the form ready and address handy, we chalked out the plan to go and file the return. The horrid reverie made a fast forward again, nevertheless.
After a three minute drive, we reached the I-T office. Surprisingly, there were no queues. My friend went to the nearby grocery shop and ascertained whether the office under the board of I-T Department was open. Bewildered, we went inside. Surprise number two: The rooms were AC and there were coolers in subordinates' halls. Moreover, the cabins had fine upholstery. The junior staff was sitting in well lit workplaces too. We both looked at each other, bemused. This time, I asked the bystander whether we were in right office. He reassured. We probed further. A person or two were standing at a counter. On closer inspection, we spotted the ITR-1 and ITR-V in their hands; stamped. We enqueued. In less than 3 minutes, the officer behind the glass partition requisitioned for my forms. Click...Click...Stamp...Stamp...Stamp. He returned my the ITR-V form back. Process over! My friend had not even taken his forms out by then. To my astonishment, while he fumbled, the officer serviced the person behind him in the queue. My friend, for that matter, is a tech savvy guy. He is quite unused to such hardships of life; paper forms, signatures, et al. He had preferred the online submission route, ignoring my apprehensions of the Luddite I-T department staffers. Hence, he was to submit the system generated acknowledgement cum return form at the counter. When he did so, the officer, whom I was yet looking at, with an awe of admiration, reverted back to his usual incarnation. 'Not accepted here', he retorted pointing at the form duo. My friend quoted the online submission route. He replied with audible grunts. After fiddling with the papers for a few seconds, he tossed them aside and demanded Form 16 to be attached therewith. I reminded him of the notification that the returning officer is to detach and return the Form 16, in case it is supplied superfluously. He shot a curt glance. Offended or otherwise, he grabbed the bunch of papers repeated the click-n-stamp activity again, mechanically, and thrust them back in my friends hands. We thanked, rather generously, and slipped.
As they say, great an effort you entail, the dog's tail never dodges. Let's be optimistic though. :)
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