Summary Assessment Scheme. - Income Tax - 966/CBDT

INSTRUCTION NO. 966/CBDT Dated : July 15, 1976 Section(s) Referred: 143(1) Statute: Income - Tax Act, 1961 The performance of the Department in the field of summary assessments was critically examined during the last Commissioners Conference. It was noticed that though the percentage of disposals rose to 73.7% in 1972-73 from 60.1% in 1971-72, which was the first year when this scheme was introduced, the disposals have fallen steadily in the subsequent three years. In the fifth year i.e. 1975-76 disposals of summary assessment were only 62% of the total assessments completed. The reasons for such fall were closely examined in the Conference and various suggestions were made to remove the constraints experienced by the field officers in the successful implementation of this scheme. These suggestions have been carefully considered by the Board and the following instructions are issued. 2. Wider publicity for the Summary Assessment Scheme through all available media should be undertaken. Such publicity campaign should place emphasis on the broad details of the summary assessment scheme and its advantages to the assessees. Commissioners should take personal interest in educating the tax-payers, especially the small businessmen, by meeting them in groups and addressing them at least twice a month. The IACs should also be encouraged to undertake similar education programme. A massive campaign of tax-payer education was recently launched during the week commencing from 14th June. However, tax-payer education should be considered as a continuing programme throughout the year. 3. Concerted efforts should be made to impress upon the assessees and their advisers the necessity for filing complete and correct returns. It should be brought home to the small assessees that in case they file correct and complete returns they will not be put to the inconvenience of appearing before the ITO with books of accounts, etc. 4. Arrangements should be made to scrutinise all returns at the receipt level and steps taken to get the incomplete returns completed. 5. The existing criteria for selecting cases for scrutiny have been re-examined and in supersession of previous instructions in this regard, fresh criteria for selection of cases for scrutiny have been laid down, with a view to simplifying the process of selection and to bringing more cases under the Summary Assessment Scheme. These are given in the Annexure. All cases which do not fall within the criteria mentioned in the Annexure and which are not selected for pre-assessment scrutiny should be summarily assessed. 6. In multi-officers' circles, there should be predominantly scrutiny and predominantly non-scrutiny wards for processing cases on the basis of the latest assessed incomes. However, if cases within the jurisdiction of a predominantly non-scrutiny ward becomes scrutiny cases on the basis of the return for the current year, such cases should continue to be handled in the same ward. Similarly, cases in non-scrutiny wards selected for pre-assessment scrutiny in the light of the Board's instructions should also continue to be handled in the same ward. 7. The cases of partners should, as far as possible, be assessed in the ward/circle where the firm is assessed as this will reduce rectification work to the minimum. 8. These instructions may be brought to the notice of all officers in your charge. 9. The Board attaches very great importance to the successful implementation of the summary assessment scheme and during the current year at least 70% of the assessments completed should be summary assessments. All Commissioners and IACs should take personal interest in this area of work and encourage their officers to complete the assessments falling under the Scheme in accordance with the instructions on the subject.