29 April 2022
Revised Constitution of Committees addressing taxpayer's grievances from high pitched assessments

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had constituted a committee to deal with Grievances of Taxpayer's on High-Pitched Assessments way back in 2015. With the introduction of the Faceless Assessment Regime, many functionalities of the Committee required changes. In light of the same, CBDT has now come up with revised instructions for the Committee's constitution and its functionality to ensure an effective and efficient approach to deal with taxpayers' grievances.

Local Committees will be constituted across the country, which will consist of three members of the rank of Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (Pr.CIT)/ Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT). The Committees constituted shall not only deal with taxpayer's grievance petitions regarding High-pitched assessments completed under Faceless as well as Non-Faceless Regime but also take care of grievances in relation to Central Charges under the territorial jurisdiction.
 
Functioning of the Local Committees



Receipt of Grievances under Faceless Regime Receipt of Grievances under Non-Faceless Regime
  • Grievances shall be received by the concerned Pr.CCIT either in the physical form or through email.
Actions Undertaken
  • Acknowledge the receipt of Grievance and maintain a separate record of the same;
  • Committee to examine whether the matter is fit for High-Pitched Assessments, whether there is non-consideration of principles of natural justice, non-application of mind/gross negligence, misinterpretation of facts/law by the Assessing Officer at the time of passing the order;
  • Committee may call for relevant records furnished during the course of assessment from Jurisdictional Pr.CIT, if required;
  • Committee may seek inputs from systems like ITBA, CPC-ITR, CPC-TDS, etc. to examine if grievances relate to system-related issues;
  • Committee to submit report treating the order as High-Pitched to the concerned Pr. CCIT along with reasons thereof;
  • Concerned Pr. CCIT to call for information from Assessing Officer/AU if cases identified are considered as High-Pitched assessments. Furthermore, he may advise the Pr. CIT to prevent recovery in such cases;
  • Concerned Pr. CCIT to submit Local Committee's reports with NaFAC and/or Directorate of Income-tax (Systems) as feedback to revisit policies, if required.
Timelines
  • Secretary to forward the Grievance to the Chairman and other members within three days of receipt;
  • The Local Committee shall endeavor to dispose of each Grievance within two months from the end of the month in which it received;
  • Secretary to ensure meetings of the Local Committees to be held at least twice a month in order to ensure timely reports are submitted to concerned Pr. CCIT.
  • Concerned Pr. CCIT to review the work of the Local Committee on a monthly basis;
  • Quarterly report regarding the functioning of Local Committees to be furnished to the CBDT in a prescribed format.
Our Comments
Reconstituting the Committee to address the Grievances of the taxpayer's for High-Pitched Assessment is a welcome move, especially in light of the Faceless Assessment Regime. Furthermore, the fact that the Local Committees shall check non-observance of principles of natural justice, non-application of mind, misinterpretation of facts/law, gross negligence as well as system-related issues and dispose of the petitions in a span of two months would ensure that the taxpayer's grievances are resolved satisfactorily and in a timely manner.

It is to be borne in mind that the Local Committees are set up with an intention to support genuine grievances faced by the taxpayer's and not to be considered as alternate remedial proceedings.
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