E-Payment of tax in Meghalaya begins

Shillong, Jul 14 : The Meghalaya government today launched an online system for payment of direct taxes, making it the second state in the Northeast after Assam to opt for a cyber treasury system.

Tax payers will be able to pay taxes through net-banking, with the government operating the ''On-line system of Tax Receipt'' via the cyber treasury as part of its e-Governance plan.

General Manager, SBI Corporate Centre S K Mishra, said with the introduction of e-payment system, all treasuries would now be fully automated and interlinked via internet and would form part of the Integrated Financial Management System. Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said "as technology has made life simpler, the government cannot shy away from such services.

Technology does not only make work efficient, but also eco-friendly," he said. The introduction and implementation of the new system would help most dealers in the state in depositing advance tax and to ascertain whether their money was directly going to the government, he said.

The cyber treasury system was introduced in collaboration with State Bank of India and National Informatics Centre (NIC). Although Meghalaya is second to Assam to opt for cyber treasury system, it has a much more advance system to provide better ''Government to Citizen'' service (G2C).