Faceless Assessment

What is Faceless Assessment?

The faceless assessment scheme is a digital initiative taken by the Income Tax Department to make the tax assessments more transparent, efficient, and accountable. This Faceless Income tax assessment was introduced in 2019, and it removes the physical interaction between the tax officials and taxpayers, totally, which reduces the scope of fraud and corruption. The scheme of Faceless Assessment was introduced under Section 144 B.

The system works on Artificial intelligence and Machine learning, which allocated the cases randomly to the tax officers from all over India. Face Assessment in Income Tax was introduced under the E-assessment scheme, which also promotes Digital India. The assessment process is conducted electronically via the National E-Assessment Centre (NeAC) and National Faceless Assessment Centres.

Procedure in Faceless Assessment

The faceless Assessment process has a systematic procedure to conduct the income tax assessment electronically. The steps are given below:

1. The NeAC starts the process of issuing a notice to the taxpayer to inform them about the assessment process.
2. On receiving the notice, the taxpayer has to submit a response along with all the necessary documents through an online portal.
3. The NeAC assigns the case randomly to an assessment unit using an automated system. This ensures anonymity and impartiality in the process of selection.
4. The AU has to examine the request and ask for the relevant additional information and details from the taxpayer to start the process.
5. If needed, the AU can seek help from the verification units and review units on complex matters or cases.
6. After considering all the information available, AU prepares a draft assessment order that includes the proposed modifications to the taxpayer's reported income.
7. To ensure the accuracy and legal compliance of the assessment, the draft will be further reviewed by the Review Unit.
8. After the approval from the Review unit, the NeAC sends the final assessment order to the taxpayer with the details of tax liability, or a refund if applicable.