In a recent review of assessment of Banks carried out by C&AG, it has been observed that white computing the income of banks under the head ‘Profit and Gains of Business & Profession’, deductions of large amounts under different sections are being allowed by the Assessing Officers without proper verification, leading to substantial loss of revenue. It is, therefore, necessary that assessments in the cases of banks are completed with due care and after proper verification. In particular, deductions under the provisions referred to below should be allowed only after a thorough examination of the claim on facts and on law as per the provisions of the I.T. Act., 1961

The present system of review of assessments by the Administrative Commissioner was introduced in 2002 subsequent to the restructuring of the Income tax Department. Under the existing system of Inspection also the Inspecting Officer was required to comment on selected assessment orders. As this was resulting in a duplication of the review function, it has been decided to do away with the requirement to give comments on selected assessment orders as part of the annual Inspections. It was also noticed that centralisation of review work with administrative Commissioners alone was resulting in inordinate workload with these officers, which was in turn affecting the quality of the Review reports. In view of these factors Board has decided to make a clear distinction between the objectives and the contents of the Annual Inspections and Reviews. It has also decided to lay down new guidelines for review of the assessment work of Officers having assessment jurisdiction