Ghaziabad, Feb. 23 : Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who launched the Centralised Processing Cell for Tax Deducted at Source (CPC-TDS) here on Saturday, said this system is a big boom to the taxpayer and the government.

"This system will serve two people. One the taxpayer, it''s a big boom to the taxpayer. As a deductee, I know how much the taxpayer suffers if the TDS is not credited to his or her account. It''s a big boom to the taxpayer. Secondly, it''s also a big boom to the government, which will now be able to collect every single rupee that is deducted and account for every single rupee," he told media here.

Strongly supporting technology, Chidambaram said ''the underline principle is no human brain, however, intelligent the person may be can absorb the vast amount of data and be able to make sense out of it''.

" It''s only technology that can do that. That is why the Income Tax Department is moving a technology-enabled system. What we have here is a world-class facility equal to the facility in Bengaluru, which processes the income tax returns; this will process the TDS returns. And only technology can help absorb the massive data, make sense for it, account for every rupee properly so that the government gets revenue, the taxpayer gets credit for the deduction and nobody is the loser, which is why I strongly support technology," said Chidambaram.

"And I think every department of the government must reengineer itself to accept technology and employ technology. We have today in partnership with Infosys, put in place here the most advanced technologies. I am told that what is available here, the systems here, the software here is equal to anything anywhere else in the world," he added.

The CPC-TDS, situated at Aayakar Bhawan, Sector-3, Vaishali, Ghaziabad, will provide the tax deductors, taxpayers and the Assessing Officers, a wide range of online services related to TDS through a functionality designated TDS Reconciliation, Analysis and Correction Enabling System (TRACES).

TRACES through its portal (https://www. tdscpc. gov. in) will provide a bouquet of services like viewing and downloading of Form 26AS by taxpayers, downloading of Consolidated Files for filing of correction statements.

The facility of downloading of TDS Certificates in Form 16 and 16A by tax deductors is a measure of convenience for the deductees. This will facilitate proper reconciliation between credit of taxes paid by deductors and claimed by deductees. E-Tutorials for tax deductors would be immensely useful for educating tax deductors for enhancing compliance.

Further, TRACES will also enable multiple modes of communication to reach out to the deductors and deductees for immediate correction, reconciliation and matching of TDS payments. Banks, being the most important tax deductors will now have the facility to file correction statements online to minimize the difficulties faced by tax deductees in claiming credit of tax deducted at source.

It is expected that this facility will, to a large extent, ameliorate the problem faced by taxpayers of mismatch in credit of tax deducted and claimed in the return of income.

A toll free Call Centre (Toll Free No.1800 103 0344) is functional for the convenience of deductors/ deductees. Instant communication by way of e-mail (contactus@tdscpc.gov.in) and SMS alerts are other unique features of the CPC-TDS. (ANI)