Scrutiny Work to Now be Done Online by the Income Tax Department

The Indian Government has been initiating the use of technology in all of its departments, and one of the main reasons for it is the need to reduce corruption, which it believes is achievable through machine dependency.

Section 14

Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister of India, made an announcement during Budget 18 regarding the scheme for scrutiny assessment. The assessment procedure is specified in Section 143 of the Act. Sub-section (3) of Section 143 states that an Assessing Officer has the power to assess the assessee's overall income or loss by issuing a written order, and the officer can also determine the amount payable by the assessee or the refund to be paid to the assessee based on the assessment.

Under sub-section (3A) of Section 143, the Central Government could notify the Official Gazette and create a scheme for assessing an assessee's overall income or loss under sub-section (3) of Section 143 of the Act in order to impart greater accountability, transparency, and efficiency. To do so, the government may -

Do away with the interface between the assessee and the Assessing Officer during the course of proceedings Ensure optimal utilisation of resources via functional specialisation and economies of scale Implement a team-based assessment with vigorous jurisdiction.

Basically, the purpose of the scheme is to make assessments with greater accountability and transparency while reducing the interface between the taxpayer and the Assessing Officer. It also aims to utilise resources in an optimal manner while aiming to implement a team-based assessment. There are a handful of concerns regarding the clarity, however. For instance, there is no proper definition given to 'team based assessment'. Moreover, an assessment with a dynamic jurisdiction suggests that taxpayers who live in a certain part of India could have their assessment conducted by an officer residing elsewhere in the country. There could be a number of major issues creeping up due to this, and it is thus crucial to rectify these issues.