Income Tax Department Launched Faceless E-Assessment Scheme

Selects over 58,000 cases for scrutiny under the new scheme. The Income Tax Department announced that it has picked up over 58,000 cases for the faceless e-Assessment scheme. Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey launched the scheme here on Monday.

How the process works?

This scheme involves no human interface between the taxpayer and the department.

It aims to facilitate faceless assessment of income tax returns through completely electronic communication under which taxpayers will receive notices on their registered e-mails as well as on registered accounts on the web portal www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in with real-time alert by way of SMS on their registered mobile number, specifying the issues for which their cases have been selected for scrutiny.

The replies to the notices can be prepared at ease by the taxpayers at their own residence or office and be sent by email to the National e-Assessment Centre by uploading the same on the designated web portal.

This new initiative of faceless assessment is expected to increase ease of compliance for taxpayers as the cost and anxiety of taxpayers are likely to be greatly reduced.

The scheme was announced in the budget and notified last month.

58,322 cases for scrutiny under faceless e-Assessment

The department informed that it has selected 58,322 cases for scrutiny under the new scheme and the e-notices have been served before September 30, 2019, for cases of the Assessment Year 2018-19.

The taxpayers have been advised to check their registered e-filing accounts/ email ids and have been requested to furnish a reply within 15 days. The Department hopes that with the ease of compliance for taxpayers, the cases would be disposed off fast.

National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC)

An institution called the National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) has been set up to look after the work of the new scheme.

There would be a NeAC in Delhi to be headed by Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Pr.CCIT).

There are 8 Regional e-Assessment Centres (ReAC) set up at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad which would comprise Assessment unit, Review unit, Technical unit and Verification units.

Each ReAC will be headed by Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (CCIT). Cases for the specified work will be assigned by the NeAC to different units by way of automated allocation systems.

In view of the dynamic and all India jurisdiction of all officers of NeAC and ReAC, this kind of connective and collaborative effort of officers is likely to lead to better quality of assessments.

Benefits of faceless e-Assessment

Listing the benefit of the new scheme, the department said that new system optimises the utilisation of resources through economies of scale.

It introduces team-based assessment with dynamic jurisdiction which will ease of compliance for taxpayers. It is also expected to bring transparency and efficiency, thus improves the quality of assessment and monitoring.

The department claimed that it will dispose of the cases expeditiously.

Source: hindubusinessline