The income tax department on Monday (October 7) launched its faceless e-assessment scheme for taxpayers. Under the scheme, there would be no physical interface between an assessing officer and an assessee.
The plan was first introduced in the Union Budget 2019 by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Sitharaman told the parliament that the existing system of scrutiny assessments in the Income Tax Department involves a high level of personal interaction between the taxpayer and the department, which leads to certain undesirable practices on the part of tax officials. While the word corruption was not used specifically, it’s clearly the target here.
“To eliminate such instances, and to give shape to the vision of the Prime Minister, a scheme of faceless assessment in electronic mode involving no human interface is being launched this year in a phased manner,” she added.
The revenue secretary AB Pandey inaugurated the National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) and said that the move is aimed at moving to faceless scrutiny and elimination of human interface.
The programme will begin with digital assessments in cases requiring verification of certain specified transactions or discrepancies. Further, the cases selected for scrutiny shall be allocated to assessment units in a random manner and notices shall be issued electronically by a Central Cell, without disclosing the name, designation or location of the assessment officer.
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