COVID-19 lockdown to affect collection and realisation of dues: Tax Officials

With the nationwide lockdown coming at the fag end of the financial year, advance tax collection as well as realisation of arrears will also pose a serious challenge, feel IRS officers.

Hyderabad: COVID-19 related lockdowns across countries have already taken its toll on the global economic scenario and India is not insulated from it.

From predictions of growth rates slipping to as low as 2.5 per cent or more to entering a recession, the situation is bleak.

The predicament is dawning heavily among many and the country’s tax authorities are equally concerned.

With the nationwide lockdown coming at the fag end of the financial year, advance tax collection as well as realisation of arrears will also pose a serious challenge, feel IRS officers.

Talking to Etv Bharat, a senior IRS officer said “The entire world’s economy is reeling and we are not insulated. March 15 was the cut-off for advance tax and arrear taxes and we have already surpassed the dates. I feel, since the impact has hit us in the last phase of the financial year, there will not be much of a gap. However, schemes like ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ could take a hit due to the lockdown and the resultant expected collection may be down. The government has extended the March 30 date to June 30 for the scheme and there is some delay in realisation, we still have to wait to see the final impact.”

Though the Centre has been optimistic about the FY '20 tax revenue, which was pegged at Rs 21,63,423 crore, it is too early to say whether the Government will be in a position to achieve the revised estimated target once the COVID-19 curve flattens.

Tax Officials For A Social Cause

Working under the lockdown is a challenge faced by most IRS officers and many of them are putting up their best in extending helping hands in these extraordinary times.

The Indian Revenue Service Association (IRSA) has already appointed station wise coordinators to extend help to farthest corners - not only to its members or of those belonging to the Income Tax officials, but many others across the country.

From arrangement of crowdfunding, cooking meals, arranging rations to distributing and feeding daily wage labourers and destitute are some of the works continuously being carried out by the Association.

In Faridabad, Dr Aditya Bhardwaj (DCIT) and his wife have formed a group - We Care, and are feeding around 5,000 on a daily basis.

The group is accepting donations of raw material and are cooking and distributing food among the needy.

IRS officers Sreenivas Bidari in Surat, Megha and Suresh in Mumbai and Md. Arshad in West Bengal are partnering with local police authorities and NGOs and are carrying out similar activities.

The taxmen are yet again collecting, but this time to bring relief and succour to the needy.