The initiative was launched to reduce visits by taxpayers to I-T offices and their interface with the taxman, thereby mainly curbing corruption.

The government is set to roll out a pan-India “faceless and nameless” e-assessment procedure for income taxpayers from 2018 with the CBDT constituting a high-level committee to prepare a quick roadmap for the implementation of this ambitious proposal. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body for the Income Tax Department, has notified a nine-member committee–headed by a Principal Chief Commissioner rank officer — and set for it a deadline of February 28, 2018, for submitting its report. The CBDT has been running a pilot project in a few major cities and has been testing the feasibility of implementing this new regime of tax assessment for the last few years.

About e-assessment for income taxpayers

The new link– e-proceeding — was recently hosted by the department on the personal login of the taxpayer on the e-filing website (http://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in). Once taxpayers register on the web portal, they will get a confirmation as a text message and an email on their registered mobile number and email ID, indicating success. The functionality to conduct e-proceeding will be available for all types of notices, questionnaires, and letters issued under various sections of the I-T Act.

How e-assessment will help businessmen

The initiative was launched to reduce visits by taxpayers to I-T offices and their interface with the taxman, thereby mainly curbing corruption. With an increased use of technology, the scope of corruption will definitely reduce as interaction will reduce between the taxpayers and income tax officials, told Mahendra Agarwal, President of the All Delhi Computers Traders Association, to FE Online.

Businessmen will also gain clarity on the exact amount of advance tax due in a given quarter. At present, even the CA’s are unable to provide us accurate details and we get penalised as a result by the I-T authorities later for filing inaccurate returns or paying the wrong amount, he added. The traders expect that the GSTIN and PAN should be linked for increasing transparency. The new system will, however, be voluntary and taxpayers can choose whether to conduct their dealing over the e-system or through the existing procedure of manual submissions of documents by visiting the tax office.