Dept. of Income Tax and NIIT partner to create pool of skilled Tax Return Preparers in India

New Delhi, November 10, 2006: NIIT, Asia’s largest IT trainer, has been roped in by Department of Income Tax (DIT), Ministry of Finance, to foster resources for widening the base of income tax payers, by creating trained and certified Tax Return Preparers across the country. 

NIIT will utilize its nationwide network to test nearly 50,000 graduates across 100 locations, in the pilot phase. Of these, 5000 selected candidates will undergo a rigorous training programme on Income Tax filing procedures and MS Office, for familiarity with computers. The trained candidates will be referred to as ‘Certified Tax Return Preparers’ and obtain a unique Identification Number from the Dept. of Income Tax. The Tax Return Preparers are meant to file returns of income tax assessees in the lower income category.

In this unique STE (Source-Train-Enable) programme, NIIT will provide special training material on the subject, developed by Taxman a leading publishing house dealing exclusively in Tax related matters. To ensure quality outcome of the training, all Tax Return Preparers would have access to a Web Based Knowledge Portal, for any special support while filing the returns, throughout the year. A unique feature of this exercise is the extensive use of e-learning for Tax Return Preparers, through the portal for one year, post their certification. This will help in continuous updation of skills in tax matters.

Elaborating on the new initiative, Mr. P. Rajendran, Chief Operating Officer, NIIT said, “By partnering with DIT for this unique initiative, NIIT will not only assist the Government in achieving its set goals in this domain but also provide a career opportunity for the large number of country’s unemployed youth.”

“Graduates in remote corners of the country now have a good opportunity to gain self-employment and work towards a better future”, he added.

The new initiative is under Income Tax Department’s Tax Return Preparer Scheme (TRPS) and is aimed at raising the level of awareness and compliance amongst marginal tax payers. Under DIT’s action plan for F.Y. 2005-2006, 15% new assessees are expected to be added over the existing pool of nearly 3 crore assessees on its roll. The Department expects to add nearly 50 lakh new assessees during the current year.

Graduates interested in this scheme can apply before 24th November, 2006 by visiting www.trpscheme.com.