Today I will be talk about an interesting topic that will help a lot of taxpayers who file their Income Tax return themselves without any assistance of tax consultant. Salaried Individual will be benefitted a lot from this topic. It will help them to fill out ITR forms, other Statutory forms, change settings, complete transactions, find help and reference materials for tax payers and even upload documents.
Co browsing – Taxpayer assistance through co browsing
Co Browsing facility introduced to facilitate assistance to taxpayer by helpdesk agent without any charge. It is completely free of cost.
Co-browsing, also known as collaborative browsing, allows the Helpdesk agents to collaborate with the taxpayer’s browser in real-time, just at the click of a button. Agents can view and securely co navigate the Taxpayer’s browser screen and guide them interactively to deliver real-time and personalized support.
How to access the Co browsing option
Login to the e-Filing website www.incometax.gov.in (with your Login credentials) and follow the given steps >Bottom Right side >Co-browsing>Get live Help
Advantages of using of co-browsing
- Co-browsing is simple to use. It can be easily combined with live chat, phone to resolve the customer issue faster.
- co-browsing solution requires no installations or plugins
- seamless navigation, reduce average handling time and boost resolution rates
- Highlight and annotate important points
- Easy use with easy integration, hence increased customer satisfaction
- Co-browsing does not allow the agent to see any other data on the taxpayer’s desktop or computer.
- Taxpayer need to approve the request before the agents can start the co-browsing session.
- Taxpayer can also end the co-browsing session at any time if they wish to terminate the discussion.
How to get start Co-Browsing session from Helpdesk agent end?
- Agent will receive call & CRM pop up Infront of Agent.
- Agent will talk to taxpayer and guide taxpayer where to locate co-browse button on income tax portal.
- Taxpayer to generate PIN and share with Agent.
- Agent to click on CB button on CRM which will take him to co browse URL.
- Agent to enter PIN shared by taxpayer in screen displayed to Agent and click on start session button.
- Once Agent clicks on Start Session button co-browse session will start & Agent can guide taxpayer.
- After the Taxpayer gets the answers, he/she can click the STOP button anytime. Once the session has ended, the Agent will no longer see the Taxpayer’s browser
What is the difference between Co-browsing and Screen Sharing?
| Co-Browsing | Screen Sharing |
| Co-browsing is a more convenient form of visual engagement as it doesn’t require anyone to download any software. Agents can quickly connect to the Taxpayer’s browsers with the click of a button. | Both the agent and Taxpayer must install a 3rd party application like Zoom or Google Meet before they can share their screens. |
| Co-browsing provides a much more private and secure experience for the Taxpayer as the agent can only view the active window of the Taxpayer’s browser and nothing else | Service reps can see the client’s entire desktop or any notifications that may pop up. |
| The agent can execute specific actions on the client’s browser (like highlight, annotate, click, fill out forms), helping Taxpayers by quickly resolving their queries. | Agents can’t do any actions on the Taxpayer’s screen and only provide oral instructions during a screen sharing session. |
| Most co-browsing software comes with a feature called data masking that hides Taxpayers’ confidential data (like passwords) during a co-browsing session. | Screen sharing doesn’t provide data masking, allowing agents to see everything displayed on the Taxpayer’s screen. |
Conclusion:
Helpdesk agent will only help to those things which are technical in nature like file the ITR form, change settings, find help and reference material. It will not provide any consultancy related to the tax planning, exemption and deduction. For this, you will have to contact the tax consultant. Please be careful to file your ITR that carries your annual income and the taxes you are liable to pay on that income.
A sample video link is given in this article for better understanding. I hope this helps you in your income tax return filing journey.
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