Procedure for faceless assessment, reassessment or recomputation under section 273(1)

The flow (sub-rule 2).

• The National Faceless Assessment Centre assigns the case to an assessment unit through an automated allocation system, tells the assessee that the assessment will be completed under this rule, and serves any notice under section 268(1) or section 270(8); the assessee's response goes to the Centre, which forwards it to the assessment unit.
• The assessment unit may ask, through the Centre, for further information, documents or evidence from the assessee or others; for an enquiry or verification by a verification unit; or for technical help from a technical unit on matters such as arm's length price, valuation, or withdrawal of registration, approval or exemption. The Centre serves the notices and assigns the requests, and forwards the reports.
• If the assessee does not comply, the Centre tells the assessment unit, which, through the Centre, serves a show-cause notice under section 271 on why the assessment should not be completed to the best of its judgment.
• The assessment unit then prepares either an income or loss determination proposal (where no variation prejudicial to the assessee is proposed) or a show-cause notice setting out the proposed prejudicial variations, which the Centre serves; the assessee replies to the Centre.
• On the proposal, the Centre, following Board guidelines, either has the assessment unit prepare a draft order or assigns it to a review unit; the review unit prepares a review report, which the assessment unit considers, accepting or rejecting the modifications and recording reasons for any rejection.
• For an eligible assessee under section 275(1) where a prejudicial variation is proposed, the Centre serves the draft order, and the assessee either accepts it or files objections before the Dispute Resolution Panel and the Centre within the period in section 275(2). The assessment is completed on the draft order if accepted or unopposed, or in line with the Panel's directions under section 275(5), within the times in section 275(4) and 275(13).
• In other cases the final assessment order is passed in line with the draft order. The assessment unit also initiates penalty proceedings, if any. The Centre serves the order, any penalty notice and the demand notice stating the sum payable or refund due, and then transfers the electronic records to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction.
• Where the nature or complexity of the accounts, their volume, doubts about their correctness, multiplicity of transactions or specialised business justify it, the assessment unit may record reasons and ask the Centre to invoke section 268(5). A verification unit in another faceless centre may also do the verification.

Communication and hearings (sub-rule 3). Electronic records are authenticated by the Centre, by the units with a digital signature, or by the assessee through a digital signature, electronic verification code or login to the registered account. Notices and orders reach the assessee by placing an authenticated copy in the registered account, e-mailing the registered address, or uploading to the Mobile App, followed by a real-time alert; others get an e-mail followed by an alert. Responses go through the registered account and are authenticated by an acknowledgement carrying a hash result. No personal appearance is required before any unit. Where a variation is proposed, the assessee or authorised representative may ask for a personal hearing, which is held exclusively by video conferencing or video telephony, as is any recording of statements (other than those recorded in a survey under section 253), subject to section 273(8). The Board provides video facilities so that no one loses faceless assessment for lack of access, and the Principal Chief Commissioner or Principal Director General in charge of the Centre, with the Board's approval, lays down standards and processes.

Definitions (sub-rule 4) cover terms such as "automated allocation system", "real time alert", "registered e-mail address" (including the address in the electronic filing account, the last return, the PAN database, Aadhaar records, or, for a company, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website), "registered mobile number", "electronic verification code", and "video conferencing or video telephony".