Faceless Assessment Meaningless: Network of Officers-Advocate-CA set up

- Antenna : Vivek Mehta

- If the tax payer of Ahmedabad goes to Allahabad for return assessment, the officials there are ready to set up a network and settle corruption cases.

Income Tax Assessing Officers, Advocates and Chartered Accountants working as tax consultants across India have colluded to create a system that renders the process of faceless assessment meaningless. Even in faceless assessment, Orissa authorities are contacting the tax payers of Ahmedabad and making the local assessing officers an intermediary to understand their income tax returns. Syndicates of Local Assessing Officers and Local Advocates are also reported to have been formed. Thus, while the government is moving in leaps and bounds, the income tax officers, advocates and chartered accountants are advancing step by step and making the faceless assessment system of the government ineffective. The taxpayers of Ahmedabad have been getting calls like this from outside the village. As a result, the government's calculation of eradicating corruption has started to backfire.

The central government has introduced the system of faceless assessment for the last five years in order to eliminate the complaint that the officials are making unnecessary inquiries and extorting money from the taxpayer businessmen on some pretext in the process of assessment of income tax returns. Under this system, there is no information whether the return of a Mumbai taxpayer has gone to Bangalore or Kolkata for assessment.

If one's return is selected for assessment, the permanent account number of the taxpayer is shown in it. As soon as the Income Tax Assessing Officer enters the Permanent Account Number in the software, the full history of the taxpayer including name, address, year and amount of return filed by him is displayed on the screen.

Then a specific query is made against the taxpayer. Tax consultants or chartered accountants are entrusted with the responsibility of clarifying on behalf of the taxpayer in respect of these enquiries. A letter of authority has to be given for that. In this letter of authority, all the details including work, address, mobile number of techconsultants are to be given.

Then even when the final hearing is conducted on it through virtual means, names and mobile numbers of tax consultants, chartered accountants are given. A link is sent to their mobile. After that virtual hearing with them is done to get to know them.

Secondly, if the Ahmedabad officials receive a return of an Aurangabad or Allahabad assessee for assessment, they contact the Allahabad or Aurangabad officer to approach the assessee and arrange to find ways to settle the assessment. Similarly, advocates and chartered accountants are setting up their own networks in every city. They are also in touch with each other and are adopting ways of getting interim settlement in each other's assessment cases.

Thus, the assessment system was created with the name of eradicating corruption through faceless assessment, but the income tax officers have gone one step ahead of the top officials of the government. He initially opposed faceless assessment. But not only has the government not bowed down to them, they have accepted the new system of faceless assessment, but have also found a way to do their own thing in it.