Section 144B of Income Tax Act "Faceless Assessment"
144B. (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary
contained in any other provisions of this Act, the
assessment under sub-section (3) of section 143 or under
section 144, in the cases referred to in sub-section (2),
shall be made in a faceless manner as per the following
procedure, namely:-
(i) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall serve a
notice on the assessee under sub-section (2) of section 143;
(ii) the assessee may, within fifteen days from the date of
receipt of notice referred to in clause (i), file his
response to the National Faceless Assessment Centre;
(iii) where the assessee-
(a) has furnished his return of income under section 139
or in response to a notice issued under sub-section (1) of
section 142 under or sub-section (1) of section 148, and a
notice under sub-section (2) of section 143 has been issued
by the Assessing Officer or the prescribed income-tax
authority, as the case may be; or
(b) has not furnished his return of income in response to a
notice issued under sub-section (1) of section 142 by the
Assessing Officer; or
(c) has not furnished his return of income under sub-section
(1) of section 148 and a notice under sub-section (1) of
section 142 has been issued by the Assessing Officer,
the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall intimate the
assessee that assessment in his case shall be completed in
accordance with the procedure laid down under this section;
(iv) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall assign
the case selected for the purposes of faceless assessment
under this section to a specific assessment unit in any one
Regional Faceless Assessment Centre through an automated
allocation system;
(v) where a case is assigned to the assessment unit, it may
make a request to the National Faceless Assessment Centre
for-
(a) obtaining such further information, documents or
evidence from the assessee or any other person, as it may
specify;
(b) conducting of certain enquiry or verification by
verification unit; and
(c) seeking technical assistance from the technical unit;
(vi) where a request for obtaining further information,
documents or evidence from the assessee or any other person
has been made by the assessment unit, the National Faceless
Assessment Centre shall issue appropriate notice or
requisition to the assessee or any other person for
obtaining the information, documents or evidence
requisitioned by the assessment unit;
(vii) the assessee or any other person, as the case may be,
shall file his response to the notice referred to in clause
(vi), within the time specified therein or such time as may
be extended on the basis of an application in this regard,
to the National Faceless Assessment Centre;
(viii) where a request for conducting of certain enquiry or
verification by the verification unit has been made by the
assessment unit, the request shall be assigned by the
National Faceless Assessment Centre to a verification unit
in any one Regional Faceless Assessment Centre through an
automated allocation system;
(ix) where a request for seeking technical assistance from
the technical unit has been made by the assessment unit, the
request shall be assigned by the National Faceless
Assessment Centre to a technical unit in any one Regional
Faceless Assessment Centre through an automated allocation
system;
(x) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall send the
report received from the verification unit or the technical
unit, based on the request referred to in clause (viii) or
clause (ix) to the concerned assessment unit;
(xi) where the assessee fails to comply with the notice
referred to in clause (vi) or notice issued under
sub-section (1) of section 142 or with a direction issued
under sub-section (2A) of section 142, the National Faceless
Assessment Centre shall serve upon such assessee a notice
under section 144 giving him an opportunity to show-cause,
on a date and time to be specified in the notice, why the
assessment in his case should not be completed to the best
of its judgment;
(xii) the assessee shall, within the time specified in the
notice referred to in clause (xi) or such time as may be
extended on the basis of an application in this regard, file
his response to the National Faceless Assessment Centre;
(xiii) where the assessee fails to file response to the
notice referred to in clause (xi) within the time specified
therein or within the extended time, if any, the National
Faceless Assessment Centre shall intimate such failure to
the assessment unit;
(xiv) the assessment unit shall, after taking into account
all the relevant material available on the record make in
writing, a draft assessment order or, in a case where
intimation referred to in clause (xiii) is received from the
National Faceless Assessment Centre, make in writing, a
draft assessment order to the best of its judgment, either
accepting the income or sum payable by, or sum refundable
to, the assessee as per his return or making variation to
the said income or sum, and send a copy of such order to the
National Faceless Assessment Centre;
(xv) the assessment unit shall, while making draft
assessment order, provide details of the penalty proceedings
to be initiated therein, if any;
(xvi) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall examine
the draft assessment order in accordance with the risk
management strategy specified by the Board, including by way
of an automated examination tool, whereupon it may decide
to-
(a) finalise the assessment, in case no variation
prejudicial to the interest of assessee is proposed, as per
the draft assessment order and serve a copy of such order
and notice for initiating penalty proceedings, if any, to
the assessee, along with the demand notice, specifying the
sum payable by, or refund of any amount due to, the assessee
on the basis of such assessment; or
(b) provide an opportunity to the assessee, in case any
variation prejudicial to the interest of assessee is
proposed, by serving a notice calling upon him to show cause
as to why the proposed variation should not be made; or
(c) assign the draft assessment order to a review unit in
any one Regional Faceless Assessment Centre, through an
automated allocation system, for conducting review of such
order;
(xvii) the review unit shall conduct review of the draft
assessment order referred to it by the National Faceless
Assessment Centre whereupon it may decide to-
(a) concur with the draft assessment order and intimate the
National Faceless Assessment Centre about such concurrence;
or
(b) suggest such variation, as it may deem fit, in the draft
assessment order and send its suggestions to the National
Faceless Assessment Centre;
(xviii) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall, upon
receiving concurrence of the review unit, follow the
procedure laid down in-
(a) sub-clause (a) of clause (xvi); or
(b) sub-clause (b) of clause (xvi);
(xix) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall, upon
receiving suggestions for variation from the review unit,
assign the case to an assessment unit, other than the
assessment unit which has made the draft assessment order,
through an automated allocation system;
(xx) the assessment unit shall, after considering the
variations suggested by the review unit, send the final
draft assessment order to the National Faceless Assessment
Centre;
(xxi) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall, upon
receiving final draft assessment order follow the procedure
laid down in-
(a) sub-clause (a) of clause (xvi); or
(b) sub-clause (b) of clause (xvi);
(xxii) the assessee may, in a case where show-cause notice
has been served upon him as per the procedure laid down in
sub-clause (b) of clause (xvi), furnish his response to the
National Faceless Assessment Centre on or before the date
and time specified in the notice or within the extended
time, if any;
(xxiii) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall,-
(a) where no response to the show-cause notice is received
as per clause (xxii),-
(A) in a case where the draft assessment order or the final
draft assessment order is in respect of an eligible assessee
and proposes to make any variation which is prejudicial to
the interest of said assessee, forward the draft assessment
order or final draft assessment order to such assessee; or
(B) in any other case, finalise the assessment as per the
draft assessment order or the final draft assessment order
and serve a copy of such order and notice for initiating
penalty proceedings, if any, to the assessee, alongwith the
demand notice, specifying the sum payable by, or refund of
any amount due to, the assessee on the basis of such
assessment;
(b) in any other case, send the response received from the
assessee to the assessment unit;
(xxiv) the assessment unit shall, after taking into account
the response furnished by the assessee, make a revised draft
assessment order and send it to the National Faceless
Assessment Centre;
(xxv) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall, upon
receiving the revised draft assessment order,-
(a) in case the variations proposed in the revised draft
assessment order are not prejudicial to the interest of the
assessee in comparison to the draft assessment order or the
final draft assessment order, and-
(A) in case the revised draft assessment order is in respect
of an eligible assessee and there is any variation
prejudicial to the interest of the assessee proposed in
draft assessment order or the final draft assessment order,
forward the said revised draft assessment order to such
assessee;
(B) in any other case, finalise the assessment as per the
revised draft assessment order and serve a copy of such
order and notice for initiating penalty proceedings, if any,
to the assessee, alongwith the demand notice, specifying the
sum payable by, or refund of any amount due to, the assessee
on the basis of such assessment;
(b) in case the variations proposed in the revised draft
assessment order are prejudicial to the interest of the
assessee in comparison to the draft assessment order or the
final draft assessment order, provide an opportunity to the
assessee, by serving a notice calling upon him to show-cause
as to why the proposed variation should not be made;
(xxvi) the procedure laid down in clauses (xxiii), (xxiv)
and (xxv) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the notice
referred to in sub-clause (b) of clause (xxv);
(xxvii) where the draft assessment order or final draft
assessment order or revised draft assessment order is
forwarded to the eligible assessee as per item (A) of
sub-clause (a) of clause (xxiii) or item (A) of sub-clause
(a) of clause (xxv), such assessee shall, within the period
specified in sub-section (2) of section 144C, file his
acceptance of the variations to the National Faceless
Assessment Centre;
(xxviii) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall,-
(a) upon receipt of acceptance as per clause (xxvii); or
(b) if no objections are received from the eligible assessee
within the period specified in sub-section (2) of section
144C,
finalise the assessment within the time allowed under
sub-section (4) of section 144C and serve a copy of such
order and notice for initiating penalty proceedings, if any,
to the assessee, alongwith the demand notice, specifying the
sum payable by, or refund of any amount due to, the assessee
on the basis of such assessment;
(xxix) where the eligible assessee files his objections with
the Dispute Resolution Panel, the National Faceless
Assessment Centre shall upon receipt of the directions
issued by the Dispute Resolution Panel under sub-section (5)
of section 144C, forward such directions to the concerned
assessment unit;
(xxx) the assessment unit shall in conformity of the
directions issued by the Dispute Resolution Panel under
sub-section (5) of section 144C, prepare a draft assessment
order in accordance with sub-section (13) of section 144C
and send a copy of such order to the National Faceless
Assessment Centre;
(xxxi) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall, upon
receipt of draft assessment order referred to in clause
(xxx), finalise the assessment within the time allowed under
sub-section (13) of section 144C and serve a copy of such
order and notice for initiating penalty proceedings, if any,
to the assessee, alongwith the demand notice, specifying the
sum payable by, or refund of any amount due to, the assessee
on the basis of such assessment;
(xxxii) The National Faceless Assessment Centre shall, after
completion of assessment, transfer all the electronic
records of the case to the Assessing Officer having
jurisdiction over the said case for such action as may be
required under the Act.
(2) The faceless assessment under sub-section (1) shall be
made in respect of such territorial area, or persons or
class of persons, or incomes or class of incomes, or cases
or class of cases, as may be specified by the Board.
(3) The Board may, for the purposes of faceless assessment,
set up the following Centres and units and specify their
respective jurisdiction, namely:-
(i) a National Faceless Assessment Centre to facilitate the
conduct of faceless assessment proceedings in a centralised
manner, which shall be vested with the jurisdiction to make
faceless assessment;
(ii) Regional Faceless Assessment Centres, as it may deem
necessary, to facilitate the conduct of faceless assessment
proceedings in the cadre controlling region of a Principal
Chief Commissioner, which shall be vested with the
jurisdiction to make faceless assessment;
(iii) assessment units, as it may deem necessary to
facilitate the conduct of faceless assessment, to perform
the function of making assessment, which includes
identification of points or issues material for the
determination of any liability (including refund) under the
Act, seeking information or clarification on points or
issues so identified, analysis of the material furnished by
the assessee or any other person, and such other functions
as may be required for the purposes of making faceless
assessment;
(iv) verification units, as it may deem necessary to
facilitate the conduct of faceless assessment, to perform
the function of verification, which includes enquiry, cross
verification, examination of books of accounts, examination
of witnesses and recording of statements, and such other
functions as may be required for the purposes of
verification;
(v) technical units, as it may deem necessary to facilitate
the conduct of faceless assessment, to perform the function
of providing technical assistance which includes any
assistance or advice on legal, accounting, forensic,
information technology, valuation, transfer pricing, data
analytics, management or any other technical matter which
may be required in a particular case or a class of cases,
under this section; and
(vi) review units, as it may deem necessary to facilitate
the conduct of faceless assessment, to perform the function
of review of the draft assessment order, which includes
checking whether the relevant and material evidence has been
brought on record, whether the relevant points of fact and
law have been duly incorporated in the draft order, whether
the issues on which addition or disallowance should be made
have been discussed in the draft order, whether the
applicable judicial decisions have been considered and dealt
with in the draft order, checking for arithmetical
correctness of variations proposed, if any, and such other
functions as may be required for the purposes of review.
(4) The assessment unit, verification unit, technical unit
and the review unit shall have the following authorities,
namely:-
(a) Additional Commissioner or Additional Director or Joint
Commissioner or Joint Director, as the case may be;
(b) Deputy Commissioner or Deputy Director or Assistant
Commissioner or Assistant Director, or Income-tax Officer,
as the case may be;
(c) such other income-tax authority, ministerial staff,
executive or consultant, as considered necessary by the
Board.
(5) All communication among the assessment unit, review
unit, verification unit or technical unit or with the
assessee or any other person with respect to the information
or documents or evidence or any other details, as may be
necessary for the purposes of making a faceless assessment
shall be through the National Faceless Assessment Centre.
(6) All communications between the National Faceless
Assessment Centre and the assessee, or his authorised
representative, or any other person shall be exchanged
exclusively by electronic mode; and all internal
communications between the National Faceless Assessment
Centre, Regional Faceless Assessment Centres and various
units shall be exchanged exclusively by electronic mode:
Provided that the provisions of this sub-section shall not
apply to the enquiry or verification conducted by the
verification unit in the circumstances referred to in
sub-clause (g) of clause (xii) of sub-section (7).
(7) For the purposes of faceless assessment-
(i) an electronic record shall be authenticated by-
(a) the National Faceless Assessment Centre by affixing its
digital signature;
(b) assessee or any other person, by affixing his digital
signature if he is required to furnish his return of income
under digital signature, and in any other case, by affixing
his digital signature or under electronic verification code
in the prescribed manner;
(ii) every notice or order or any other electronic
communication shall be delivered to the addressee, being the
assessee, by way of-
(a) placing an authenticated copy thereof in the assessee's
registered account; or
(b) sending an authenticated copy thereof to the registered
email address of the assessee or his authorised
representative; or
(c) uploading an authenticated copy on the assessee's Mobile
App,
and followed by a real time alert;
(iii) every notice or order or any other electronic
communication shall be delivered to the addressee, being any
other person, by sending an authenticated copy thereof to
the registered email address of such person, followed by a
real time alert;
(iv) the assessee shall file his response to any notice or
order or any other electronic communication, through his
registered account, and once an acknowledgement is sent by
the National Faceless Assessment Centre containing the hash
result generated upon successful submission of response, the
response shall be deemed to be authenticated;
(v) the time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic
record shall be determined in accordance with the provisions
of section 13 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of
2000);
(vi) a person shall not be required to appear either
personally or through authorised representative in
connection with any proceedings before the income-tax
authority at the National Faceless Assessment Centre or
Regional Faceless Assessment Centre or any unit set up under
this sub-section;
(vii) in a case where a variation is proposed in the draft
assessment order or final draft assessment order or revised
draft assessment order, and an opportunity is provided to
the assessee by serving a notice calling upon him to show
cause as to why the assessment should not be completed as
per the such draft or final draft or revised draft
assessment order, the assessee or his authorised
representative, as the case may be, may request for personal
hearing so as to make his oral submissions or present his
case before the income-tax authority in any unit;
(viii) the Chief Commissioner or the Director General, in
charge of the Regional Faceless Assessment Centre, under
which the concerned unit is set up, may approve the request
for personal hearing referred to in clause (vii) if he is of
the opinion that the request is covered by the circumstances
referred to in sub-clause (h) of clause (xii);
(ix) where the request for personal hearing has been
approved by the Chief Commissioner or the Director General,
in charge of the Regional Faceless Assessment Centre, such
hearing shall be conducted exclusively through video
conferencing or video telephony, including use of any
telecommunication application software which supports video
conferencing or video telephony, in accordance with the
procedure laid down by the Board;
(x) subject to the proviso to sub-section (6), any
examination or recording of the statement of the assessee or
any other person (other than statement recorded in the
course of survey under section 133A of the Act) shall be
conducted by an income-tax authority in any unit,
exclusively through video conferencing or video telephony,
including use of any telecommunication application software
which supports video conferencing or video telephony in
accordance with the procedure laid down by the Board;
(xi) the Board shall establish suitable facilities for video
conferencing or video telephony including telecommunication
application software which supports video conferencing or
video telephony at such locations as may be necessary, so as
to ensure that the assessee, or his authorised
representative, or any other person is not denied the
benefit of faceless assessment merely on the consideration
that such assessee or his authorised representative, or any
other person does not have access to video conferencing or
video telephony at his end;
(xii) the Principal Chief Commissioner or the Principal
Director General, in charge of the National Faceless
Assessment Centre shall, with the prior approval of the
Board, lay down the standards, procedures and processes for
effective functioning of the National Faceless Assessment
Centre, Regional Faceless Assessment Centres and the unit
set up, in an automated and mechanised environment,
including format, mode, procedure and processes in respect
of the following, namely:-
(a) service of the notice, order or any other communication;
(b) receipt of any information or documents from the person
in response to the notice, order or any other communication;
(c) issue of acknowledgement of the response furnished by
the person;
(d) provision of "e-proceeding" facility including login
account facility, tracking status of assessment, display of
relevant details, and facility of download;
(e) accessing, verification and authentication of
information and response including documents submitted
during the assessment proceedings;
(f) receipt, storage and retrieval of information or
documents in a centralised manner;
(g) circumstances in which proviso to sub-section (6) shall
apply;
(h) circumstances in which personal hearing referred to
clause (viii) shall be approved;
(i) general administration and grievance redressal mechanism
in the respective Centres and units.
(8) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or
sub-section (2), the Principal Chief Commissioner or the
Principal Director General in charge of National Faceless
Assessment Centre may at any stage of the assessment, if
considered necessary, transfer the case to the Assessing
Officer having jurisdiction over such case, with the prior
approval of the Board.
(9) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other
provision of this Act, assessment made under sub-section (3)
of section 143 or under section 144 in the cases referred to
in sub-section (2) (other than the cases transferred under
sub-section (8), on or after the 1st day of April, 2021),
shall be non-est if such assessment is not made in
accordance with the procedure laid down under this section.
Explanation.-In this section, unless the context otherwise
requires-
(a) "addressee" shall have the same meaning as assigned to
it in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the
Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(b) "authorised representative" shall have the same meaning
as assigned to it in sub-section (2) of section 288;
(c) "automated allocation system" means an algorithm for
randomised allocation of cases, by using suitable
technological tools, including artificial intelligence and
machine learning, with a view to optimise the use of
resources;
(d) "automated examination tool" means an algorithm for
standardised examination of draft orders, by using suitable
technological tools, including artificial intelligence and
machine learning, with a view to reduce the scope of
discretion;
(e) "computer resource" shall have the same meaning as
assigned to it in clause (k) of sub-section (1) of section 2
of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(f) "computer system" shall have the same meaning as
assigned to it in clause (l) of sub-section (1) of section 2
of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(g) "computer resource of assessee" shall include assessee's
registered account in designated portal of the Income-tax
Department, the Mobile App linked to the registered mobile
number of the assessee, or the registered e-mail address of
the assessee with his e-mail service provider;
(h) "digital signature" shall have the same meaning as
assigned to it in clause (p) of sub-section (1) of section 2
of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(i) "designated portal" means the web portal designated as
such by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Principal
Director General, in charge of the National Faceless
Assessment Centre;
(j) "Dispute Resolution Panel" shall have the same meaning
as assigned to it in clause (a) of sub-section (15) of
section 144C;
(k) "faceless assessment" means the assessment proceedings
conducted electronically in 'e-Proceeding' facility through
assessee's registered account in designated portal;
(l) "electronic record" shall have the same meaning as
assigned to it in clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 2
of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(m) "eligible assessee" shall have the same meaning as
assigned to in clause (b) of sub-section (15) of section
144C;
(n) "e-mail" or "electronic mail" and "electronic mail
message" means a message or information created or
transmitted or received on a computer, computer system,
computer resource or communication device including
attachments in text, image, audio, video and any other
electronic record, which may be transmitted with the
message;
(o) "hash function" and "hash result" shall have the same
meaning as assigned to them in the Explanation to
sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Information Technology
Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(p) "Mobile app" shall mean the application software of the
Income-tax Department developed for mobile devices which is
downloaded and installed on the registered mobile number of
the assessee;
(q) "originator" shall have the same meaning as assigned to
it in clause (za) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the
Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(r) "real time alert" means any communication sent to the
assessee, by way of Short Messaging Service on his
registered mobile number, or by way of update on his Mobile
App, or by way of an e-mail at his registered e-mail
address, so as to alert him regarding delivery of an
electronic communication;
(s) "registered account" of the assessee means the
electronic filing account registered by the assessee in
designated portal;
(t) "registered e-mail address" means the e-mail address at
which an electronic communication may be delivered or
transmitted to the addressee, including-
(i) the e-mail address available in the electronic filing
account of the addressee registered in designated portal; or
(ii) the e-mail address available in the last income-tax
return furnished by the addressee; or
(iii) the e-mail address available in the Permanent Account
Number database relating to the addressee; or
(iv) in the case of addressee being an individual who
possesses the Aadhaar number, the e-mail address of
addressee available in the database of Unique Identification
Authority of India; or
(v) in the case of addressee being a company, the e-mail
address of the company as available on the official website
of Ministry of Corporate Affairs; or
(vi) any e-mail address made available by the addressee to
the income-tax authority or any person authorised by such
authority.
(u) "registered mobile number" of the assessee means the
mobile number of the assessee, or his authorised
representative, appearing in the user profile of the
electronic filing account registered by the assessee in
designated portal;
(v) "video conferencing or video telephony" means the
technological solutions for the reception and transmission
of audio-video signals by users at different locations, for
communication between people in real-time.
What is Disclosure of information respecting assessees? Section 138 of Income Tax Act 1961
What is Return of income? Section 139 of Income Tax Act 1961
What is Permanent account number? Section 139A of Income Tax Act 1961
What is Assessment? What is Best judgment assessment? Section 143 and 144 of Income Tax Act 1961
Section 144B Faceless Assessment
What is Reference to dispute resolution panel? Section 144C of Income Tax Act 1961