CBDT provides broad contours for handling proceedings by Jurisdictional AO if transferred from faceless regime and also prescribes rule for authentication of records under faceless assessment proceedings

 This Tax Alert summarizes a circular issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 6 September 2021 (Circular) prescribing the procedure for handling assessment or penalty proceedings by Jurisdictional Tax Authority (JTA) once it is transferred from the faceless regime to the traditional regime by the National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC) or the National Faceless Penalty Centre (NFPC), respectively.

The Circular lays down broad contours to be followed by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO), like conducting the proceedings electronically, allowing personal hearing via video conference, use of faceless process such as verification unit for online verification or technical unit for technical inputs etc., to the extent technically feasible.

This Tax Alert also summarizes a Notification issued on 6 September 2021 and a Press Release issued on 7 September 2021by the CBDT, notifying new rule for verification of electronic records submitted under Faceless Assessment under the provisions of the Income Tax Laws (ITL). The new rule simplifies the authentication process to provide that the electronic record submitted through the registered account by a taxpayer will be deemed to be authenticated using Electronic Verification Code (EVC).