For widening the taxpayer base and reaching a large number of people who need help with tax things, The Income Tax Department is in the process of establishing over 60 facilitation centres- Aaykar Seva Kendras from Goalpara in Assam to Neemuch in MP.
These ASKs will help the people in conducting their personal and business operation with the department ranging from obtaining a new PAN to filing ITRs apart from other income tax related subjects.
According to a blueprint, The Central Board of Direct Taxes has authorised 65 of such ASKs at locations including Goalpara and Morigaon (Assam), Haridwar and Rishikesh (Uttarakhand), Siliguri and Haldia (West Bengal), Dahod and Porbandar (Gujarat), Jajpur and Puri (Odisha), Hardoi and Lakhimpur Kheri (Uttar Pradesh), Dharmapuri (Tamil Nadu) and Rewari and Sonepat in Haryana.
According to a Senior Official, above mentioned are some of the prominent places where the ASKs are planned to be created within 2016-17 financial year. Many more cities are lined up in this project, as this is the priority project for the CBDT (Central Board Of Direct Taxes) and Income Tax Department.
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The main purpose of starting this project is to help more and more people in getting their PAN card made, and making them understand the taxation issues, and also to reduce the distance covered for all those falling under the tax bracket.
The CBDT has also given special instructions to the field offices of the department to constitute local teams for speedy creation of these centres. A typical ASK will be headed by an Income Tax department officer and all public facilities will be provided under one roof for easy and more simple operations.