The CBDT issued Order vide F. No. 187/3/2020-ITA-I dated September 06, 2021 under Section 119 Income-tax Act 1961 (“the IT Act”) providing exclusions to Section 144B of the IT Act.
The Faceless Assessment Scheme, 2019 (“the Scheme”) has been incorporated in the Act vide the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020. Section 144B of the Act pertaining to Faceless Assessment has been inserted by the said amendment w.e.f. April 01, 2021.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes vide Order F.No.187/3/2020-ITA-1 dated August 13, 2020 (“the Order”) read with order under section 119 of the Act regarding mutatis mutandis application of Orders, Circulars etc. issued in order to implement the Scheme to Faceless Assessment u/s 144B of the Act, F.No.187/3/2020 ITA-I dated March 31, 2021 directed that all the Assessment Orders shall be passed by the National Faceless Assessment Centre (“NaFAC”) u/s 144B of the Act except as under:-
i. Assessment orders in cases assigned to Central Charges.
ii. Assessment orders in cases assigned to International Tax Charges.
In partial modification of the said Order, the Central Board of Direct Taxes in exercise of powers under section 119 of the Act, hereby directs that in addition to exceptions (1) & (ii) provided in Para 2 of the Order, the following exception is also hereby added as under:-
iii. Assessment Orders in cases where pendency could not be created on ITMA because of technical reasons or cases not having a PAN, as the case may be.
Further, the Central Board of Direct Taxes clarifies that assessment in cases transferred by the Principal Chief Commissioner or the Principal Director General in charge of National Faceless Assessment Centre (NaFAC) u/s 14413(8) of the Act shall be handled as per the procedure specified in the letter F.No. 225/97/2021/ITA-11 dated September 06, 2021.
The Order can be accessed at: http://www.a2ztaxcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/CBDT-Order-dt.-06072021.pdf