The government has proposed to bring about a number of procedural simplifications for the Income Tax assesses which include allotment of PAN within ten days of application, introduction of a new one-page Saral form for filing of IT returns and quick disposal of refunds.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has taken up the issue of quick disposal of refunds as a challenge and it would be ensured that there was no pendency in this regard throughout the country, CBDT member, Pradip Saxena, said on Monday.

He also urged the assesses to give their bank account number while filing their returns, so that from the ensuing financial year the refunds could directly be credited in their bank accounts.

In future, the Income Tax Department was planning to take up the ambitious project of electronic transfer of funds, he said.

The government had decided to do away with the procedural requirement under which it was mandatory for the assesses to obtain an NOC from the Income Tax Department before going abroad or obtaining a contract, he said.

From now onward it would be mandatory to only quote the PAN, he said, adding in TDS cases it had been decided to reduce the number of required forms from 42 to 22.