Tag: professional tax

Salem Professional Tax Experience


Yesterday was one of the electrifying days in my professional life. Everything got done in a jiffy. But things started with a shaky note. I woke up in at 5 AM in the morning only to find that my mobile charge is too low. Then I put my mobile in charge and went to refresh and take back and after coming back after 45 min I was shocked to see that charger was crap and the mobile was not charged. 

Mobile was very inevitable because I needed bala’s help or clients Branch Manager’s help if needed. Then I charged the mobile with Kannan’s charger and my travel was delayed by 2 hours. 

Then I boarded a bus to Salem by 8 AM and it travelled to places Dhindikal, Karur, Namakkal & Finally reached Salem by 2 PM in the afternoon. But travelling was not as boring because climate was cool and also it was raining often. Also I was able to watch 2 movies while I was travelling. Even more importantly the bus was not crowded that I was able to sit comfortable till the end of the journey. 

Then on reaching Salem I enquired about Corporation office and on reaching there I came to know that Treasury works form 10 AM – 2 PM and I reached there by 2.45 PM. But I was asked to go to Hastampatti where there is the Corporation office for the zone where I wanted to Register & Remit Professional Tax. 

I reached that office by 3 o clock and I was made to wait for the PTO. In that time I went and had lunch in a near by hotel and I was walking at near by places. I returned back to 3.45 PM as it was too hot. By the time I returned to Corporation say in 5 min, it got pitch dark and started raining for next 45 min. 

I went to the computer room’s visitor area and took a small nap. Then I went to a Peon and told him I wanted his help as I’m from Chennai and I wanted to get that work done at any cost. Then the PTO came by 5 o clock only to go back again. But with the help of the Peon I got everything done in 30 min. 

By 5.35 PM I got the receipt and assessment number. This made me feel good as it took 10 days to get this work done in Coimbatore & Bangalore. 

Then I reached back to KPN office by 6.30 and with all their mess I got a ticket by 7 o clock. Then I brought a Money Today magazine and I went to near by mobile shop to charge my mobile and had Pizza as dinner and I boarded the bus by 10 o clock and reached home by 5.45 AM today. 

Over all my confidence is at a new high after this experience. And at the end of the day what made me feel happy is I learned from my previous mistakes and caught hold of the right guy to get things done.

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How to Finish a Task with Bureaucrats?


Last week it was the end of month long agony with bureaucrats. There is a common phenomenon with bureaucrats.

  1. They are lazy.
  2. They never accountability.
  3. They are irresponsible.
  4. They are corrupt and crocked.
  5. They won’t offer information on one go. Eg: Every time we make a visit they send us back telling one correction or other.

Over all for a work which should not have taken more than 3 days took 25 days to finish it. But the experience gained in phenomenal. I had two types on experience in Coimbatore & Bangalore.

  • One place i was not allowed to deal from the top and i was totally not accessible with the concerned person in the top.
  • Second place i was asked to deal with the Top directly.

In my experience both as challenging. In one case we can proceed with the work without having any one to deal with. In second case dealing from the Top expensive. So this is how i dealt with Case 1.

  • I met the Professional Tax Officer on second day and he took the documents and he didn’t give me his phone number.
  • Then again he was not approachable in office.
  • Then i caught hold of the Peon who gave me all information and called the officer everything i visited their office or gave me updates on the progress when i called him from Chennai.

Over all job got over after 15 days because of Bureaucratic delays and after constant followups. Totally i spent Rs.80/- for the peon for his help. I cant consider this as Bribe because he helped me for a job which was not his responsibility and for picking calls and linking with the concerned officer. Here Bottom-up approach helped.

Then in Case 2.

  • Officer was always available in Office.
  • Was directly dealing with the Department Head.
  • Bribe insisted was Huge.
  • We denied to offer bribe and we paid the entire penalty.
  • I was made to run everyday asking for more details / information / document.

Finally PTO said he can’t give me the certificate without giving him some Professional Fee (This is the term he uses for Bribe) and finally i had to bow down and make him some Professional Fee. I was deeply upset because PTO made me run to his office at least 11 times and i produced all nonsense information he requested and finally ending up paying him a bribe.

I behaved like a common man standing helpless and bow down to business pressure. Let me see when all this will change?

Bangalore & Coimbatore Professional Tax Done


I’ve been slogging for last 3 weeks to finish the registration and remittance of Professional Tax for a big client of CCS. Today I got the receipt for PT remittance and Professional Tax Number for Coimbatore which my uncle collected and couriered to me.

Also much awaited Bangalore is also done. Today I got the Professional Tax Number but the officer denied to handover the certificate to me as he wanted to meet the bank’s branch manager.

So my stay here goes prolonged for one more day. Now only Salem is pending and I don’t know how long it is going to take.

Bangalore professional tax experience


Preparation for registering and remitting professional tax for our clients Bangalore branch started on Sunday. I had to get the route from maps.google.com. My client’s office changed six months back but it was not updated in their system in head office. So went to the old address only to find they no longer exist there. Their new office was located near to my house. One good thing for the client is they changed the new address in all their communication only yesterday.

Then from then on I had to head to Strum Board Building put up is Raseeldar Street in Sehsadripuram. The trail in Google map was long one. My father guided me thru a short route. It didn’t take more time to find places in Bangalore courtesy to my roaming in Bangalore in my college days. Now I realize noting goes as waste in life :).

Again irony in Bureaucracy started immediately. The concerned officer was on leave and there was no alternative to handle the case. But one particular staff was good enough to look into the document and told me that we didn’t fill Form I & II. I was shocked seeing the form it was completely in Kannada. I requested the offer for a copy in English / Hindi. Unfortunately forms are only in Kannada. Returned for the day doing nothing

Next day had to goto client’s office again to get the form filled as I didn’t have any clue on the contents of the form. Then I reached the professional tax office and found soft spoken gentle men who were present today. He still found some missing elements and he gave me the numbers about the penalty to be paid and he asked me to meet the superior.

One entering the superior office that is of gazette officer rank asked me come after 2 hours. Then I had to wait outside the office playing games in my mobile and making calls as my house is 25 KM from this place.

I went back after 2 hours and the officer spoke to me for 30 min without any point. He asked for offer letter of 50 employees. Immediately I understood he is expecting a bribe. He asked for 4 more documents and he said he wanted tax till date to create a Professional Tax no. and I had to return back with only 50% of work getting done.

Now we have requested clients for more documents and sure it is going to take time from their end and I must return to Bangalore again sometime this month.

Over all it is a good experience and tomorrow I’m leaving to Salem to register and remit professional tax there and I going there without expectation…

Professional Tax experience in Coimbatore


CCS has won a deal from subsidiary of one of the largest bank in India which takes care of back end processing of the bank. The work is to register and remit their Professional Tax in Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore & Bangalore. Having our presence in Chennai Bala finished all the work there. Now we had a problem in remitting & registering it in other cities. Engaging a consultant will not make sense as we have signed a confidentiality agreement and also having a consultant means shrinking of our margin. So we were forced to send one of our team members. That is when I thought why I shouldn’t try doing it myself as; 

  1. I have experience in Registering and Remitting Professional Tax with my previous company.
  2. I can save lodging cost as I’ve my relatives in all cities. Where in if we send a team member we have to bare the lodging cost.
  3. Our team members are loaded with work and sending them out of city will effectively mean we are delaying other tasks.
  4. I like to explore new things and I wanted to get a feel of it.

So I felt I decided and when I said I can do it Bala was initially hesitant. He felt a CEO need not do all these things. I told him that there is no written rule that a CEO need not get down and work. When I listed the above mentioned points he got convinced.

I thought I can finish Coimbatore first and then Salem on 30/09/2009 & 01/10/2009 respectively and finish Bangalore next week. Sadly my work didn’t get over in Coimbatore today courtesy to Indian Bureaucrats.  So, these are my experience; 

  • Went to Corporation office only to learn that they have different office for different wards and I had to go to a different place. But they clearly gave the name of contact person and place.
  • South Zone office was not too far from Corporation Office. Reached South Zone office only to fine all the concerned officer are on rounds and were expected only by evening. I was asked to come back by 4 o clock.
  • Then came back home and took a nice nap as I was deprived of good sleep last two nights.
  • Slept by 11.30 AM and got up by 3:30 PM and by the time I reached the bus stop it was 4 o clocks and I thought for a min that I must take an auto. Then my intuition said Bureaucrats will not be perfect.
  • My intuition was right. Reached South Zone office by 4:30 only to find concerned officer was not there.
  • Then checked with his colleagues about the formalities and ended up getting confused. There were two Circular which had Revised Tax details. We have made calculations with one Circular information and the other stated the slabs got revised 6 months back. Ironically they themselves didn’t have a clue when I asked which is valid.
  • Finally the concerned person reached his office by 6 o clock and he got all the documents and asked me to come same time tomorrow. When I said I’m from Chennai and I had a booking back to Chennai. He showed me a sad face expression he was helpless. I can understand no it was the end of the day and he has to leave.
  • Over all nothing happened as per my plan and this is common with Indian Bureaucracy. But I was happy with two things;
  1. Climate was good and waiting for long was not difficult.
  2. In culture coimbatorians are very polite. I’ve never seen Bureaucrats answering with polite tone.

With all these experience I had to close my day one assuming I might finish this job by tomorrow. Also I was called by the officer by 5:30 PM tomorrow and I don’t have any concrete work till them thought I can engage myself. Until them please prey the almighty to keep the office in good mood & see to it that he is in office (as next three days are holidays)…