Income tax assessments are being done in a faceless manner, this was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.
The Minister further stated that income tax assessments are being done in a faceless manner, except as provided hereunder:
- Assessment Orders in cases assigned to central Charges,
- Assessment Order in cases assigned to International Tax Charges.
Faceless assessments have been initiated for the purposes of making assessment of total income or loss of the assessee under section 143(3) or 144 of the Income tax Act, 1961 to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by eliminating the interface between the Assessing Officer and the assessee in the course of proceedings to the extent technologically feasible, optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation and introducing a team-based assessment with dynamic jurisdiction, the Minister stated.
The Minister stated that till 10th March, 2021, total of 82,072 assessment cases have been completed in faceless manner.
Giving more details, the Minister stated that an independent study to ascertain assessees’ experiences in faceless manner is being conducted by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) have a tripartite arrangement with NCAER for conducting this independent assessment of Faceless Assessment Scheme of the CBDT.
The Minister further stated that no proposal for scrutiny of GST assessment in a faceless mode is under consideration of the Government presently as the GST laws and rules made thereunder already provide for electronic filing and assessment of returns on the common portal. With regard to Serious Fraud Investigation Office the information is also nil.