Pros and Cons of Proposed new sub-section 255 of the income tax act in Budget 2021

CA Dolly Sharma | Last updated: 26 February 2021

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Quick Summary

Budget 2021 introduced a new subsection (7) to Section 255 of the Income Tax Act, establishing a 'Scheme for Faceless Proceedings before ITAT'. This aims to enhance efficiency, accountability, and transparency in tax procedures. However, concerns exist regarding the necessity of making an independent judicial body faceless, especially since existing safeguards are in place and the faceless assessment scheme's results are still unknown.

The idea of "Scheme for Faceless Proceedings before ITAT" announced by Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman brings into light a new subsection (7) to Section 255 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 in the Finance Bill 2021 w.e.f. 1.4.2021. This article showcases the reality of Section 255(7) with the help of analyzing the pros and cons of the Faceless Adjudication Mechanism.

Pros

In concerned to the proposed budget 2021, a new subsection in section 255 of the act is proposed to launch in the faceless scheme for ITAT proceedings on the same line as is a faceless appeal.

This will result in a high level of efficiency, accountability and transparency to the assessment procedure, appeal procedure, and penalty-related procedures under the income tax act.

Cons

There are already sufficient safeguards as regards the manner of appointment of Members of ITAT and how they operate. Whether it will be necessary to make such a big change, as it is not necessary to make such an independent judicial body faceless based on the presumptions that currently it is leading to malpractices.

On the other hand, the faceless assessment scheme has been recently introduced and the results of the same are not known yet. There should not be such a hurry in making the entire taxation system faceless in such a short span of time.

FAQ :

A new subsection (7) to Section 255 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, has been proposed to facilitate a 'Scheme for Faceless Proceedings before ITAT'.

The proposed subsection (7) to Section 255 of the Income Tax Act came into effect from 1st April 2021.

The faceless adjudication mechanism is expected to bring a high level of efficiency, accountability, and transparency to assessment, appeal, and penalty-related procedures under the income tax act.

Concerns include whether it's necessary to make an independent judicial body like ITAT faceless, given existing safeguards, and the lack of known results from the recently introduced faceless assessment scheme.

Some argue against the haste in making the entire taxation system faceless within a short period, especially as the outcomes of the new faceless assessment scheme are not yet established.