Order under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) providing exclusions to section 144B of the Act

Last updated: 07 September 2021

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The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued an order under Section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, to provide further exclusions to the Faceless Assessment Scheme (Section 144B). This order modifies previous directives by adding new exceptions to the types of assessment orders that must be passed by the National Faceless Assessment Centre (NaFAC). The amendments clarify which cases are exempt from the standard faceless assessment procedure.

F No. 187/3/2020-ITA-I
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
(Central Board of Direct Taxes)
North Block, New Delhi

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Dated: 6^thSeptember, 2021

ORDER

Subject:- Order under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) providing exclusions to section 144B of the Act.

The Faceless Assessment Scheme, 2019 (the Scheme) has been incorporated in the Act vide the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020. Section 144B of the Act pertaining to Faceless Assessment has been inserted by the said amendment w.e.f. 01.04.2021.

2. The Central Board of Direct Taxes vide Order F.No.187/3/2020-ITA-1 dated 13th August, 2020 (the Order) read with order under section 119 of the Act regarding mutatis mutandis application of Orders, Circulars etc. issued in order to implement the Scheme to Faceless Assessment u/s 144B of the Act, F.No.187/3/2020-ITA-I dated 31st March, 2021 directed that all the Assessment Orders shall be passed by the National Faceless Assessment Centre (NaFAC) u/s 144B of the Act except as under:-

i. Assessment orders in cases assigned to Central Charges.

ii. Assessment orders in cases assigned to International Tax

3. In partial modification of the said Order, the Central Board of Direct Taxes in exercise of powers under section 119 of the Act, hereby directs that in addition to exceptions (1) (ii) provided in Para 2 of the Order, the following exception is also hereby added as under:‑

iii. Assessment Orders in cases where pendency could not be created on ITBA because of technical reasons or cases not having a PAN, as the case may be.

4. Further, the Central Board of Direct Taxes clarifies that assessment in cases transferred by the Principal Chief Commissioner or the Principal Director General in charge of National Faceless Assessment Centre (NaFAC) u/s 144B(8) of the Act shall be handled as per the procedure specified in the letter F.No. 225/97/2021/ITA-11 dated 06th September, 2021.

5. This order comes into effect immediately.

-sd

(Sourabh Jain)

Under Secretary (ITA-I),CBDT

FAQ :

This order provides exclusions to Section 144B of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which pertains to the Faceless Assessment Scheme.

Section 144B of the Income-tax Act, 1961, deals with the procedure for faceless assessments and was inserted by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020, effective from 01.04.2021.

Previously, assessment orders in cases assigned to Central Charges and International Tax were excluded from being passed by the National Faceless Assessment Centre (NaFAC).

A new exclusion has been added for assessment orders in cases where pendency could not be created on ITBA due to technical reasons, or for cases not having a PAN.

Cases transferred by the Principal Chief Commissioner or the Principal Director General in charge of NaFAC under Section 144B(8) will be handled as per the procedure specified in a letter dated 06th September, 2021.

This order comes into effect immediately.