• The TRPs will help small and medium taxpayers prepare their returns

• Individuals whose income is less than a specified amount, to be determined later, will be charged no fee

• Others will be charged Rs 250 for every return

• The scheme will commence on pilot basis from this fiscal at 100 centres across 80 cities

IF YOU have ever wracked your brains trying to make sense of the rigmarole called income tax returns, you will probably raise a toast to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

On Monday, the finance minister announced the launch of a scheme to train a batch of professional tax return preparers (TRP) who will help small and medium taxpayers prepare their returns. The scheme will also generate self-employment opportunities since only unemployed and partially-employed individuals will qualify as TRPs.

The government will pay 3 per cent of the tax collected from new assesses as remuneration to the TRPs in the first year. In the second and third years, this remuneration will be 2 per cent and 1 per cent of tax collected, respectively.

The scheme, proposed by Chidambaram during his Budget speech this year, will commence on a pilot basis from this financial year at 100 centres across 80 cities. Initially, 5,000 TRPs will be trained. By February next year, they will have earned their certificates from the government.

The minimum qualification for undergoing training as a TRP is a graduation degree in commerce, law, economics, mathematics, statistics or management. The I-T department has tied up with NIIT to provide a nine-day, eight-hour training programme. A 15-day self-study programme will precede the training.