The income-tax (I-T) department on Friday launched a faceless appeal system, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 13 to eliminate discretionary powers of the taxman, curb corrupt practices and provide ease of compliance to taxpayers, an official statement said.
The new process will help in quick resolution of about 4.6 lakh appeals pending at various levels in the I-T department. Of the total pending appeals, about 85% cases will be handled under the faceless appeal mechanism, it said.
The Prime Minister last month announced three key structural tax reforms under the ‘Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest’ platform—faceless assessment, faceless appeal and taxpayers’ charter. While faceless assessment and taxpayers’ charter were formally implemented immediately, faceless appeal was scheduled to be launched on September 25.
The technology-driven faceless assessment system also aims to end overreach by officials and the charter defines the rights and responsibilities of taxpayers.
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Now, I-T appeals will be finalised in a faceless manner with the exception of appeals related to serious fraud, major tax evasion, search matters, international tax issues and matters pertaining to black money, a finance ministry statement said.
{{/usCountry}}Now, I-T appeals will be finalised in a faceless manner with the exception of appeals related to serious fraud, major tax evasion, search matters, international tax issues and matters pertaining to black money, a finance ministry statement said.
{{/usCountry}}The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that now all income tax appeals, ranging from e-allocation of appeals, to e-communication of notices, e-verification, e-enquiry and e-hearing will take place online without the need for any physical interface between the appellant and the department.
“There will be no physical interface between the taxpayers or their counsel/s and the Income Tax Department. The taxpayers can make submissions from the comfort of their home and save their time and resources,” it said.
According to CBDT, the faceless appeal system will include the allocation of cases through data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) under a dynamic jurisdiction.
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As part of the dynamic jurisdiction, the draft appellate order will be prepared in one city and will be reviewed in some other city, resulting in an objective, fair and just order, it said.
“The faceless appeal will provide taxpayers with not only great convenience, but will also ensure just and fair appeal orders and minimise any further litigation. The new system will also be instrumental in imparting greater efficiency, transparency and accountability in the functioning of the Income Tax Department,” it said.