Simplifying Tax Filing with Tax Return Preparers

Filing an income tax return sounds simple until you actually sit down with the form. Which ITR applies to you? How do you report interest income or a small capital gain? For millions of individual taxpayers in India, especially first-time filers and those without easy access to a chartered accountant, these questions used to be a real barrier. Section 139B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 was introduced to remove that barrier by creating a formal, government-recognised category of assistants called Tax Return Preparers, or TRPs. Here is how the scheme actually works, who it is meant for, and why it still matters.

What section 139B of the Income Tax Act provides 🔗

Section 139B empowers the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to frame a separate Scheme, notified in the Official Gazette, that allows specified taxpayers to prepare and furnish their returns with the help of an authorised Tax Return Preparer. This power was used to notify the Tax Return Preparer Scheme, 2006, which came into force on 1 December 2006 and remains the operating framework today, with amendments made over the years.

The section works “without prejudice” to the regular return-filing process under section 139. In other words, using a TRP is an additional, optional route, not a replacement for the standard e-filing system.

Who counts as a “specified class of persons” 🔗

The scheme is not open to everyone. As per the statutory definition, the specified class of persons covers any taxpayer other than a company, and other than a person whose accounts are required to be audited under section 44AB or any other law, who is otherwise required to file a return of income. In plain terms, this means the scheme is built for individual and small taxpayers rather than businesses that need statutory audits.

Who is a tax return preparer, and what do they actually do 🔗

A Tax Return Preparer is an individual authorised under the 2006 Scheme to assist a taxpayer in preparing and furnishing their return. Under the law, a TRP must assist the taxpayer in the manner specified by the Scheme and must affix their own signature on the return alongside the taxpayer’s. This dual-signature requirement matters. It creates a paper trail and a degree of professional accountability that an informal, unregulated “return filer” simply does not offer.

This accountability is built into the return form itself. The Schedule TRP section of an income tax return captures the preparer’s identification number, name, and counter-signature whenever a return has been filed through a TRP, and it also discloses any reimbursement the TRP is eligible for from the government. So even after the return is filed, there is a permanent record of who assisted with it.

Who can, and cannot, use a TRP 🔗

Not every taxpayer is eligible to use this route, and it helps to see the rules side by side.

This design makes sense once you think about it. Taxpayers with audited accounts usually already work with a chartered accountant, and the TRP scheme was built to reach the much larger group of ordinary individual filers who do not.

Who is barred from becoming a TRP 🔗

The law also restricts who can act as a preparer. A person who already falls under specific categories in section 288(2) of the Act, which covers legal practitioners, chartered accountants, and other authorised representatives, cannot register as a TRP. Employees of the taxpayers they would be assisting are excluded too. The idea is to avoid conflicts of interest and to keep the TRP category distinct from existing tax professionals who are already regulated by their own institutes.

How someone qualifies to become a TRP 🔗

Under the original 2006 Scheme, an individual needed a graduation degree from a recognised Indian university in a field such as Business Administration, Management, Commerce, Economics, Law, Mathematics, or Statistics to be eligible. Applicants also had to be Indian citizens within a defined age limit at the time of applying.

The Tax Return Preparer (Amendment) Scheme, 2018 widened this considerably. Today, a bachelor’s degree from any recognised Indian university or institution is sufficient, and candidates who have cleared the intermediate-level examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, or the Institute of Cost Accountants of India are also eligible, even without a formal degree. The applicable age band was also revised so candidates roughly between 21 and 45 years can apply.

Eligible applicants go through a Partner Organisation appointed by the CBDT, which invites applications, screens candidates, and arranges training at an approved Resource Centre before certification is granted. This structured selection process is one reason the scheme is often described as a source of formal, para-professional employment rather than casual gig work.

How the filing process actually works 🔗

The mechanics are fairly straightforward for a taxpayer:

• Locate a TRP: Taxpayers can search for a registered TRP near them through the Income Tax Department’s TRP locator, filtering by state, city, or PIN code, or by calling the dedicated helpline.
• Share income details: The taxpayer provides income and expense documents, such as Form 16, bank statements, and investment proofs.
• Return preparation: The TRP prepares the computation of income and the return based on this information.
• Signature and filing: The TRP counter-signs the return and helps furnish it to the jurisdictional Assessing Officer, with their details recorded in Schedule TRP.
• Reimbursement disclosure: If the TRP is entitled to a government-paid fee for that filing, it is disclosed within the return itself.

Because TRPs are largely compensated by the Income Tax Department rather than the taxpayer, the service is often free or available at a nominal cost, which is precisely the point for someone filing a simple return for the first time.

Why this scheme still matters 🔗

India has historically had a low proportion of ITR filers relative to its working population, and a large part of that gap comes down to unfamiliarity with the process rather than unwillingness to comply. The TRP scheme addresses this in three ways. First, it lowers the cost of getting professional help for someone with a straightforward salary or small-business return. Second, it builds a layer of accountability, since the preparer’s identity is tied to the return through their signature and the Schedule TRP disclosure. Third, it creates structured, government-recognised employment for graduates who are trained specifically for this role, rather than leaving return preparation entirely to unregulated intermediaries.

For a B.Com student studying tax procedure, section 139B is also a useful example of how a single enabling section in the Act can give rise to an entire delegated scheme, complete with its own eligibility rules, code of conduct, and administrative machinery, all without amending the Act itself each time a detail needs to change.

Where the scheme falls short 🔗

The TRP route has clear limits. It does not extend to companies or to anyone whose accounts require a statutory audit, so businesses of any meaningful scale are automatically outside its scope. TRPs are not authorised to conduct audits, and they are not a substitute for a chartered accountant when a return involves complex matters such as capital gains from multiple assets, foreign income, or business restructuring. The scheme was also designed in an era before pre-filled ITR forms and widespread digital filing became the norm, so its relevance today depends heavily on how well it is publicised alongside these newer, largely self-service tools.

What do you think? With pre-filled ITR forms and several private e-filing platforms now available at low cost, does a scheme like this still add real value for small taxpayers? And should its eligibility criteria for becoming a TRP be widened further to reach more first-generation filers in smaller towns?

References

1. https://www.incometaxmumbai.gov.in/tax-return-preparer-scheme/
2. https://indiankanoon.org/doc/180893271/
3. https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/schedule_trp
4. https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/income-tax-return-preparer
5. https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/notification-no.-4/2018-f.no.-142/16/2010-so-tpl-part-/-gsr-44-e-tax-return-preparer-amendment-scheme-2018
6. https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/locate-tax-return-preparer