TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY,
PART II, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (ii)
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
[CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES]
Notification
New Delhi, the 4th January, 2012
INCOME-TAX
S.O. 16 (E). - In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1A) of section 143 of
Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby specifies
the following scheme for processing of returns of income, namely:-
1. Short title and commencement.
(1). This Scheme may be called the Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011.
(2). It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
2. Definition. - In this scheme, unless the context otherwise requires
(a) `Act' means the Income Tax Act, 1961. (43 of 1961).
(b) `Board' means Central Board of Direct Taxes constituted under the Central Board
of Revenues Act, 1963(54 of 1963).
(c) `Centre' means the Centralised Processing Centre having jurisdiction over such
return of income as may be specified by the Board.
(d) `Commissioner' means the Commissioner of Income-tax, Centralised Processing
Centre.
(e) `Director General' means the Director General of Income-tax (Systems).
(f) words and expressions used herein but not defined and defined in the Act shall have
the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Act.
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3. Scope of the Scheme. This scheme shall be applicable in cases where return of
income has been furnished in,-
(i) electronic form; or
(ii) paper form, in case of a class or classes of persons, as notified by the Board in this
behalf.
4. Receipt and Acknowledgement of Return of Income.
(1) Where a return of income is filed electronically with digital signature, on
successful transmission of the data, an acknowledgement as generated by the server of
the Central Government shall be available to the person in printable format.
(2) The acknowledgement shall contain the acknowledgement number of the
electronic transmission and the date of transmission as an evidence of filing of the return.
(3) A copy of the electronic transmission of filing the return of income shall be
downloaded and kept by the person.
(4) Where a return of income is filed electronically without digital signature, on
successful transmission of the data, an acknowledgement in Form ITR-V as provided in
rule 12 of the Income Tax Rules, 1962 shall be generated by the server of the Central
Government and available to the person.
(5) The Form ITR-V shall also contain the acknowledgement number of the
electronic transmission and the date of transmission as an evidence of filing of the return.
(6) A copy of ITR-V shall be downloaded and after taking a printout of such a form,
it shall be physically verified under the signature of the person and forwarded to the
Centre.
(7) The Form ITR-V duly verified shall be sent to the Centre, either through ordinary
or speed post, within such period of uploading the electronically filed return as may be
specified by the Director General in this behalf.
(8) The date of transmitting the data electronically shall be the date of furnishing the
return if the Form ITR-V is furnished in the prescribed manner and within the period
specified.
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(9) In case Form ITR-V furnished after the prescribed time is rejected on account of it
being unsigned, illegible, mutilated, bad quality or not as per specification, it shall be
deemed that the return in respect of which the Form ITR-V has been filed was never
furnished and it shall be incumbent on the person to electronically file the return of
income again followed by submission of the new Form ITR-V.
(10) The Form ITR-V shall be submitted at the address, in the mode and within the
period or extended period specified by the Commissioner in this behalf.
(11) The Commissioner may, in order to avoid hardship in a case or class of cases,
condone the delay in receipt of Form ITR-V.
(12) The Commissioner may call for fresh Form ITR-V in special circumstances,
where the Form ITR V earlier submitted cannot be considered for technical reasons.
5. Revised return of income.
(1) If the original return of income is an electronically filed return, the revised return
shall be filed through electronic mode only.
(2) The Centre will process only the revised return and no further action will be taken on
the original return if it has not already been processed.
6. Invalid or defective return.
(i) The Commissioner may declare-
(a) a return invalid for non-compliance of procedure for using any software not
validated and approved by the Director General.
(b) a return defective under sub-section (9) of section 139 of the Act on account
of incomplete or inconsistent information in the return or in the schedules or
for any other reason.
(ii) In case of a defective return, the Centre shall intimate this to the person through e-
mail or by placing a suitable communication on the e-filing website.
(iii) A person may comply with the notice regarding defective return by uploading the
rectified return within the period of time mentioned in the notice.
(iv) The Commissioner may, in order to avoid hardship to the person, condone the delay
in uploading of rectified return.
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(v) In case no response is received from the person in reply to the notice of defective
return, the Commissioner may declare a return as not having been uploaded at all or
process the return on the basis of information available.
7. Centralised Processing Centers.
(1) The Board may set up as many Centralised Processing Centers as it may deem
necessary and specify their respective jurisdictions.
(2) The processing of the returns shall be undertaken at the Centralised Processing
Centre.
8. Processing of Returns.
(i) The Centre shall process a valid return of income in the following manner, namely:-
(a) the sum payable to, or the amount of refund due to, the person shall be determined
after credit of such Tax collected at Source (TCS), Tax Deducted at Source (TDS)
and tax payment claims which can be automatically validated with reference to
data uploaded through TDS and TCS statements by the deductors or the
collectors, as the case may be, and tax payment challans reported through
authorised banks in accordance with the procedures adopted by the Centre in this
regard.
(b) an intimation shall be generated electronically and sent to the person by e-mail
specifying the sum determined to be payable by, or the amount of the refund due
to, the person; and
(c) any intimation to the person to pay any sum determined to be payable shall be
deemed to be a notice of demand as per the provisions of section 156 of the Act
and all other provisions of the Act shall be applicable accordingly.
(ii) The Commissioner may,
(a) adopt appropriate procedure for processing of returns; or
(b) decide the order of priority for processing of returns of income based on
administrative requirements.
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(iii) Wherever a return cannot be processed in the Centre for any reasons, the
Commissioner shall arrange to transmit such return to the Assessing Officer having
jurisdiction for processing.
9. Rectification of mistake.
(i) With a view to rectifying any mistake apparent from the record under section 154 of
the Act, the Centre, on its own or on receiving an application from the person, may
amend any order or intimation passed or sent by it under the provisions of the Act.
(ii) An application for rectification shall be filed electronically to the Centre in the format
prescribed and will be processed in the same manner as a return of income-tax.
(iii) Where the rectification order results in a demand of tax, the order under section 154
of the Act passed by the Centre shall be deemed to be a notice of demand under section
156 of the Income-tax Act.
(iv) In case of error in processing due to an error in data entry or a software error or
otherwise, resulting in excess refund being computed or reduction in demand of tax, the
same will be corrected on its own by the Centre by passing a rectification order and the
excess amount shall be recovered as per the provisions of the Act.
(v) Where a rectification has the effect of enhancing an assessment or reducing the refund
or otherwise increasing the liability of the person, an intimation to this effect shall be sent
to the person electronically by the Centre and the reply of the person has to be furnished
through electronic mode only.
10. Adjustment against outstanding tax demand.
The set-off of refund, if any, arising from the processing of a return, against tax
remaining payable will be done by using the details of outstanding tax demand lying
against the person as uploaded onto the system of the Centre by the Assessing Officer.
11. Appellate Proceedings.
(i) Where a return is processed at the Centre, the appeal proceedings relating to the
processing of the return shall lie with Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)]
having jurisdiction over the jurisdictional Assessing Officer and any reference to
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Commissioner (Appeals) in any communication from the Centre shall mean such
jurisdictional CIT(Appeals).
(ii) Remand reports, giving effect to appellate order and any other reports to be furnished
before the CIT (Appeals) shall be submitted by the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction
as regards the person.
12. No personal appearance in the Centre.
(i) A person shall not be required to appear either personally or through authorised
representative before the authorities at the Centre in connection with any proceedings.
(ii) Written or electronic communication from such person or authorized representative in
the format specified by the Centre in this respect shall be sufficient compliance of the
query or clarification received from the Centre.
(iii) The Centre may call for such clarification, evidence or document as may be required
for the purpose of facilitating the processing of return and all such clarification, evidence
or document shall be furnished electronically.
13. Service of notice or communication.
(i) The service of a notice or order or any other communication by the Centre may be
made by-
a. sending it by post;
b. delivering or transmitting its copy thereof, electronically to the person sent by
the Centre's e-mail;
c. placing its copy in the registered electronic account of the person on the official
website ; or
d. any of the modes mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 282 of the Act.
(ii) The date of posting of any such communication on official website, email or other
electronic medium shall be deemed to be the date of service.
(iii) The intimation, orders and notices shall be computer generated and need not carry
physical signature of the person signing it.
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14. Power to specify procedure and processes. The Director General may specify
procedures and processes from time to time for effective functioning of the Centre in an
automated and mechanised environment, including specifying the procedure and
processes in respect of the following :-
(i) receipt and processing of electronic rectification applications in the Centre.
(ii) the address or place, the mode and the period or the extended period within which the
acknowledgement in Form ITR-V shall be accepted.
(iii) validating any software used for e-filing the return.
(iv) call centers to answer queries and provide taxpayer services which may include
outbound calls to persons requesting for clarification to assist in the processing of their
returns of income.
(v) managing tax administration functions such as receipt, scanning, data entry,
processing, issue of refunds, storage and retrieval of income-tax returns and documents in
a centralised manner or receipt of paper documents through authorized intermediaries.
[Notification No.02 /2012/ F.No.142/27/2011- SO (TPL)]
(Pawan K. Kumar)
Director (TPL-IV)
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