Problem Statement:

The current manual process of tracking ITR filing status presents several challenges:

1. Manual Effort: Recording and reviewing ITR filing statuses involves significant manual effort.
2. Accuracy Concerns: The documentation is often prepared by junior staff, raising concerns about consistency and reliability.
3. Scalability Issues: Given the high number of filings managed by CA firms, thorough reviews become increasingly difficult to execute effectively.

Proposed Technology Solution:

To address these challenges, a technology-enabled solution comprising the following components is proposed:

Implementation Plan

The proposed implementation will follow a step-by-step automation workflow:

1. Automated Login and Data Capture:
2. Use Power Automate to log into the Income Tax Portal and navigate to the ITR status section.
3. Capture the screen or download a snapshot showing the status.

1. PDF Snapshot Storage:

1. Save the extracted status image as a PDF file for record-keeping and processing.

1. OCR Conversion:

1. Apply OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to convert the image-based PDF into text-based data using a PDF tool.

1. Data Extraction and Structuring:

1. Use Python scripts to read unstructured OCR output and extract relevant fields into an Excel file

Conclusion:

1. Increased Efficiency: Power Automate significantly reduces the manual effort involved in repetitive tasks.

1. Planned Execution: A clearly defined scope and workflow is essential for effective implementation.

1. Data Security and Maintenance: Automation scripts should account for user interface changes and ensure strict adherence to data privacy regulations.