By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, OCT 25, 2016: The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, had personally handed-over the Certificates of Appreciation to a few individuals at North Block in the national capital to commence the programme of taxpayer appreciation on 19th September, 2016. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has sent-out such certificates of appreciation to 8.43 Lakh individual tax payers by e-mail in the following categories on the basis of the taxes paid by them for the Assessment Year 2016-17 :

i. Platinum : Tax contributed Rs. 1 Crore and above

ii. Gold : Tax contributed Rs. 50 Lakh to Rs. 1 Crore

iii. Silver : Tax contributed Rs. 10 Lakh to Rs.50 Lakh

iv. Bronze : Tax contributed Rs. 1 Lakh to Rs.10 Lakh

Taxpayers have lauded this new initiative and have reacted with pride and satisfaction that their contribution towards spending on various infrastructure development, social sector & welfare schemes out of revenues mobilized through tax payments have been acknowledged.

In continuation of the initiative, CBDT has started issuing the second round of Certificates to another 10.15 Lakh tax payers. While the earlier set of certificates had mostly included individuals who e-verified their returns, the second phase will cover those individuals who have filed their returns within the due date and their ITR-V has been received well before the 120 day period for submission provided under the Income Tax Act.

The CBDT urges taxpayers to e-file their returns in time and verify their return by submitting the Electronic Verification Code online or sending their ITR-V within the 120 day period so that they can also be acknowledged for their contribution. The Department is committed to continuous improvement of taxpayer services and seeks the cooperation of all taxpayers in contributing their fair share of taxes voluntarily.