The Income Tax (IT) department will be launching a new system of issuing email notices to the taxpayers, to which an assessee can also respond electronically. This will reduce the chances of a physical interface with the taxman which often led to complaints about corruption and harassment.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the top body of the IT department, is working on a strategy to create the required processes and capacity in this regard.
CBDT Chairperson Anita Kapur has said in an interview that the IT department is thinking of allowing that when a notice is issued in an assessment or scrutiny case, the taxpayer can send the department an e-response by way of email. She said that some security issues in this regard are being resolved after which the new system could be implemented.
Anita Kapur further said the purpose of introducing the system was to reduce the interface between the taxpayer and the AO and that the taxpayer can send documents over email, scan them, upload them and it’s over.
Explaining the procedure, Anita Kapur said if a taxpayer provides the department with an email address in his Income Tax Return (ITR), the CBDT will be able to send him an e-notice and not a paper document dispatched through post for which he usually has to travel and meet the Assessing Officer (AO). The taxpayer can also respond to such notice through the email and further queries can also be sent by another notice by the electronic medium so that both the AO and the taxpayer remain in an e-environment and, may be, during the final hearing when the AO wants to close the matter, the taxpayer can go once to the tax office. This is what the CBDT chairperson said.
However, it is not clear why should the taxpayer visit the tax office once when the AO wants to close the matter? Will it not lead to malpractices? When all other communication can take place electronically, why can’t the decision of the AO be also taken and communicated electronically?
