| Question And Answer | |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Scrutiny Notice under section 143(2) for AY 2020-2021 not mentions CASS/Manual selection whether valid |
| Category: | Income-Tax |
| Querist: | Aditya Bansal |
| Answered by: | Advocate Shashi Ashok Bekal |
| Tags: | Face less assessment, issuing scrutiny notice |
| Date: | July 10, 2021 |
Dear Sir,
Scrutiny Notice under section 143(2) for AY 2020-2021 does not mentions whether selection of return of income is selected for scrutiny is under CASS/Manual.
Whether case has been selected for scrutiny under CASS or Manual, has been a practice from the department for past many years and also been mentioned in the instruction issued by the CBDT vide F.No. 225/157 /2017 /ITA.11 dated 23 June 2017 (attached).
Whether Scrutiny Notice issued under section 143(2) for AY 2020-2021 valid in terms of above instructions & guidelines under the income tax act?
Your observations are correct. The CBDT vide Instruction dated June 23, 2017 expressly mentioned that all scrutiny notices under section 143(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (Act), shall henceforth, be issued in the revised 3 formats only. Further, the system necessary changes were made in the ITBA module in this regard.
As per the procedure under the Faceless Assessment Scheme it has been specified at Para 5 (i) of CBDT Notification 61 of 2019 dated September 12, 2019 read with CBDT Notification 60 of 2020 dated August 13, 2020, clearly specifies that the National e-Assessment Centre shall serve a notice on the assessee under sub-section (2) of section 143, specifying the issues for selection of his case for assessment;
However, the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020, inserted section 144B of the Act with effect from April 01, 2020 for the purpose of assessment under section 143(3) of the Act.
As per Section 143(1)(i) of the Act, the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall serve a notice on the assessee under sub-section (2) of section 143 of the Act.
It is pertinent to note that the Act is silent about conveying the nature of scrutiny to the assessee. Also, the parent Act will supersede the Notification and the Instructions. Therefore, there would be no need for the NeAC to convey the nature to the assessee.
Further, the CBDT vide CASS 2020 Instruction No. 1 dated May 17, 2021 has laid down a mechanism for the Income-tax Authorities to procure information pertaining to CASS, reason for selection, inter alia, which will be only available to the Assessing Officers.