No proposal for scrutiny of GST assessment in faceless mode: Anurag Thakur

MoS Finance Anurag Thakur (File Image)

There is no proposal of faceless scrutiny assessment of GST returns as the Goods and Services Tax rule already provide for electronic filing and assessment, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said on Tuesday.

Income tax assessments are being done in a faceless manner except in certain conditions and till March 10, a total of 82,072 assessment cases have been completed in a faceless manner, he added.

To a query in the Rajya Sabha on whether the government is considering scrutiny of GST assessments and some stages of investigations by SFIO in a faceless mode, he said, "No such proposal for scrutiny of GST assessment in a faceless mode is under consideration of the Government presently as the GST laws and rules made thereunder already provide for electronic filing and assessment of returns on the common portal. With regard to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, the information is also nil".

The minister said faceless assessments have been initiated to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by eliminating the interface between the Assessing Officer and assessee in the course of proceedings to the extent technologically feasible, optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation and introducing a team-based assessment with dynamic jurisdiction.

"An independent study to ascertain assessees' experiences in a faceless manner is being conducted by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) have a tripartite arrangement with NCAER for conducting this independent assessment of Faceless Assessment Scheme of the CBDT," Thakur said.