The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made changes in the Income Tax Rules to simplify the verification of records submitted in Faceless Assessment proceedings of officers and taxpayers.
The Finance Ministry said that the electronic records deposited from the registered account of the taxpayers on the Income Tax Portal will be deemed to be authenticated by the taxpayers through the Electronic Verification Code (EVC). The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on September 6 made changes in the Income Tax Rules to simplify the verification of records submitted in faceless assessment proceedings without the face-to-face of officers and taxpayers.
The ministry said that in the amended rule, a provision has been made that electronic records submitted through the registered account of taxpayers on the portal of Income Tax Department will be deemed to be authenticated by the taxpayer through electronic verification code. It said, therefore, where a person submits an electronic record by logging into his registered account on the portal of the Income Tax Department, it shall be deemed that the electronic record has been verified by the EVC.
Certified with digital signature
The ministry said that this simplified process would also be available for companies or tax audit cases and they are required to authenticate electronic records through digital signatures. Legislative amendments in this regard will be brought in due course.
CBDT inserted a new Rule 14C to ease authentication of electronic records submitted in faceless assessment proceedings. If electronic records are submitted through registered account of taxpayer on the income tax portal,separate authentication thru EVC is not required to be done. pic.twitter.com/p9NRAuXXQR
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) September 7, 2021
CII did the survey
According to a survey by industry chamber CII, most businesses believe that faceless assessment will improve efficiency, transparency and accountability of tax administration. Around 88 per cent of the survey respondents believe that faceless assessment will help in realizing the government’s objective of reducing interface and undesirable practices on the part of tax officials.
Now you can apply till 30th September to settle pending tax cases
The Finance Ministry has said that if anyone has a case regarding pending tax, then an application can be made to the Interim Board of Income Tax by 30 September to resolve it. This moratorium is available to such taxpayers whose case is pending in the Income Tax Settlement Commission (ITSC).
The Finance Act, 2021 has amended certain provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Under this, the work of ITSC has been stopped after February 1, 2021. The amendment also states that no tax settlement case shall be filed with ITSC after February 1, 2021.
