The squads, set up under the Task Force of the Central Board for Direct Taxes (CBDT), have already begun operations in some parts of the country including Thane and Bangalore, and will begin operations in Pune by next month, Asha Mehra, member, CBDT,Revenue and Audit (R&A), told reporters here today.

This is part of the move to improve tax collection and compliance, she admitted. It was a "matter of concern," she said that collection in the Pune region, which covers all Maharashtra except Mumbai, has dropped sharply during 1997-98. Mehra said the focus this year was on the `one-by six' scheme by which the department hoped to bring in a larger number of assessees into the tax net. The success of the `one-by-four' scheme in the 12 cities in which it was introduced to begin with has encouraged the department to extend it to 23 more cities. She pointed to the minuscule number of tax payees in the country, 1.30 crores, amounting to less than two per 100 for the entire population. The target is to achieve this number, she admitted.

The target for enrolling tax assessees in the Pune region for 1998-99 is 15 lakhs, from 11.60 lakhs in 1997-98. The target tax collection for 1998-99 is Rs. 2,602 crores, up from the target of Rs. 2,540 crores for 1997-98.

However, the department was able to collect only Rs. 2,016 crores in the year, as against the collection of Rs. 2,045 crores in 1996-97.

She attributed the fall in collection during 1997-98 to the VDIS (Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme) since there was an overlap in assessees who might have chosen to accept the VDIS and defer payment of their current liability. The region collected Rs. 850 crores in VDIS.

In addition to the squads, the department will monitor the advance tax payable, with each Assessing Officer monitoring the top 100 assessees. In an effort to free Assessing Officers for this, Mehra said no targets have been set for them while the number of assessments to be made have also been reduced. She stressed that the drop in revenue collection must be checked.

On the issue of allotment of Permanent Account Numbers (PAN), the Pune region received 12 lakh applications, of which 29,000 have been alloted the new, ten-digit numbers. All the applicants would be alloted their new numbers by March 31, 1999, JM Mehra, Chief Commissioner, Pune region, said.

Mehra ruled out any further extension for PAN application after the expiry of the current deadline of September 30, 1998. She also denied that there was a likelihood of the re-introduction of a modified VDIS.