SRINAGAR: In a significant outreach initiative aimed at bridging gaps between taxpayers and the Income Tax Department, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Sunday organised an interactive awareness session with Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Vikram Sahay at the Industrial Growth Centre (IGC), Lassipora.
The session saw enthusiastic participation from industrial unit holders based in South Kashmir’s Lassipora estate. It marked what KCCI described as the beginning of a long-term collaborative effort to improve compliance and trust in the tax ecosystem.
Chief Commissioner Vikram Sahay lauded the Chamber’s initiative and emphasised that income tax notices should not be viewed as punitive but rather as a process for information gathering. “We are not here to harass anyone. Honest taxpayers have nothing to fear,” he said, urging businesses to maintain transparency in claims and deductions.
He was accompanied by key officials, including Dr Ruveda Salam, Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, Srinagar; Deputy Commissioner Shakeel Ahmad Ganie; and ITO Abhineet Jhorar. Addressing concerns raised by participants, Sahay warned that non-response to notices often results in avoidable complications such as tax demands or freezing of accounts. He cited instances from last year where such measures had to be taken due to non-compliance.
Importantly, Sahay addressed the long-standing grievance about South Kashmir falling under the jurisdiction of the Udhampur Income Tax office. Acknowledging the inconvenience faced by growers and industrialists, he announced that a facilitation camp will soon be held in Lassipora to ease the compliance burden and confirmed that proposals for creating additional tax wards were under active consideration.
The discussion also touched upon issues of advance tax payments, documentation practices, and the need for businesses to keep their mobile numbers and email addresses updated for timely alerts.
KCCI President Javid Ahmad Tenga, in his opening remarks, welcomed the senior tax officials and said the session was part of the Chamber’s broader effort to take awareness campaigns to industrial belts and rural business clusters. “This interaction is a first step in building a grassroots-level engagement between our members and the Income Tax Department,” he said.
Senior Vice President Ashiq Hussain Shangloo and Secretary General Faiz Ahmad Bakshi represented the Chamber at the session, while Mukhtar Ahmad Khan, President of the Industrial Growth Centre Lassipora, delivered the welcome address and felicitated the Chief Commissioner.
Participants were reminded that the deadline for filing income tax statements remains 31 July, though the last date for income tax return submissions has been extended to 30 September.
The session ended on a note of mutual understanding, with both sides agreeing to hold more such awareness programmes in other industrial and business hubs across Kashmir to enhance voluntary compliance and ease taxpayer grievances.
