As Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for a faceless, painless and transparent tax administration, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) held a detailed meeting on August 18 on the nation-wide rollout of the Faceless Assessment and Taxpayers’ Charter.
According to finance ministry sources, CBDT Chairman PC Mody, in an online meeting with the officers of the Income Tax Department, emphasised on early cleaning up of demand, all pending rectifications and appeal to ensure that the department can have a timely transition to the faceless assessment procedure.
“Tax department also discussed the demand management strategy to be adopted by the Income Tax Department to identify and clean-up pending demands so that the correct demand, if any, could be made available to the taxpayers. As a part of cleaning-up of demand, all pending rectifications and appeal effects were to be attended on priority as this was also one of the key factors of a transparent tax administration,” sources added.
PC Mody emphasised on the role and constitution of National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) and Regional e-Assessment Centres (ReACs) including the reallocation and reorganisation of the manpower, sources said.
“(PC) Mody reiterated that the implementation of the Faceless Assessment Scheme was important to uphold the dignity of the service and, also, to change the narrative of negative public perception into a positive one,” sources said.
The Chairman also added that Faceless Assessment Scheme implementation would not cause any large-scale movement of officers or officials and there would be no reduction in the existing infrastructure and resources of the department.
“During the meeting, Member (CBDT) SK Gupta made a detailed presentation on the Faceless Assessment Scheme and explained its various nuances along with the differences between the manual scrutiny process and the Faceless Assessment which was introduced in October 2019. He detailed the constitution of the NeAC, its powers and functions and, also, those of the ReACs as well as the various Assessment, Verification, Technical and Review Units respectively working within the ambit of ReACs/NeAC. He also emphasised the importance of embracing change and moving ahead using technology, to be in sync with the changing times,” sources added.
With regards to the newly introduced Taxpayers’ Charter, the officers were sensitised about the rights of the taxpayers as enshrined in the Charter.
