The 'tax calculator' is a computer based programme hosted on the web-based platform of the I-T department and is meant for the aid of the taxpayer before they file their final Income Tax Return (ITR).

The 'calculator' is updated every fiscal after budget and is calibrated by the Central Board of Direct Taxes according to the new announcements made by the Finance Minister in respect of tax rates.

The 'Systems' directorate of the department has recently launched the new online facility where a taxpayer, individual, corporate or any other entity, can compute the liability and this filled up format can even be sent to a private email or to the email of the tax planner, intermediary or Chartered Accountant.

"The facility of emailing the tax calculator has been launched as part of new measures initiated by the department to make ITR filing more customer friendly. This is also a step to encourage more e-filing of ITRs," a senior I-T officer told PTI. Taxpayers can see the tax calculator on the official website of the I-T department-www.incometaxindia.gov.in.

The 'tax calculator' computes the total tax liability of an individual or any other category of taxpayer under various heads like income from house property, capital gains, profits and gains of business or profession and agricultural income among others.

The 'tax calculator' acts like a true copy of the ITR. The department, in the recent past, has undertaken a slew of measures to fasten and ease the I-T filing system and subsequent issue of refunds as it recently announced that taxpayers will be required to share their personal email IDs and mobile phones for one-to-one communication with the taxman.

The department will soon start updating taxpayers about the status of their I-T refunds and processing of certain tax statements by sending real-time SMSes and emails, on similar lines as that of credit card and bank transactions at present.

PTI