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TMI Blog2024 (3) TMI 141X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pens seamlessly and accordingly, the receipt of the said document also becomes instantaneously. Hence, the date of receipt of DRP direction also happened on 07.04.2022 itself and the due date in terms of section 144C(13) would start reckoning from that date. Merely, because the NeAC had retained the document receipt from ld DRP in the form of DRP directions for few months in its kitty and the later transfer the same to the assessment unit on 02.05.2022, the due date in terms of section 144C(13) of the Act for framing the final assessment order by the ld AO does not get automatically extended. Hence, we have no hesitation to hold that the final assessment order ought to have been passed by the ld AO on or before 31.05.2022 in the instant case. Since, the same was done on 30.06.2022 which is barred by limitation. Appeal of assessee allowed. X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ections, complete, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in section 153 or section 153B, the assessment without providing any further opportunity of being heard to the assessee, within one month from the end of the month in which such direction is received. " 6. The ld CIT DR placed on record a report from the ld AO wherein it had been stated that the ld DRP's directions dated 25.03.2022 were uploaded mainly on ITBA system on 02.05.2022 and in support of this he also placed on record the complete ordersheet noting wherein, it was noticed that on 02.05.2022 DCIT/ ACIT, NeAC-2(2)(2), Delhi has transferred the documents to ld AO/ Assessment Unit. This document was purportedly referred as DRP direction dated 25.03.2022. Hence, it was vehemently pleaded by the ld DR that directions dated 25.03.2022 was made known to in the system of ld AO (Assessment Unit) only on 02.05.2022 by NeAC and as per section 144C(13) of the Act, the ld AO is bound to pass the final assessment order within one month from the end of the month in which the ld DRP's direction were received. If reckoned from 02.05.2022, the ld AO has got time till 30.06.2022 to pass the final assessment order ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 22 02. The Commissioner of Income tax. Transfer Pricing -2, Delhi ED071553753IN 12.04.2022 , 03. The Addl./Joint/Deputy/Asst. CIT, National e Assessment Centre, Delhi ED071553682IN 12.04.2022 04. The DCIT/ACIT, Transfer Pricing - 2(2)(2), Delhi ED071553767IN 12.04.2022 4. Further, it is informed that the above said direction was not sent through e mail. SAURABH SHARMA DCIT(DRP-2), Delhi (Sec)" 8. Based on this it was argued by the ld AR that when the ld DRP's directions got uploaded in ITBA portal way back on 07.04.2022 itself, the ld AO ought to have been pass a final assessment order on or before 31.05.2022, whereas, the final assessment order was passed on 30.06.2022 which is barred by limitation. We find that pursuant to the faceless regime introduced in the income tax Act, a separate section was introduced vide section 130 mentioning the faceless jurisdiction of the Income Tax Authorities, which reads as under:- "Faceless jurisdiction of income-tax authorities. 130. (1) The Central Government may make a scheme, by notification in the Official Gazette, for the purposes of-- (a) exercise of all or any of the powers and performance of all or any of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssment has been introduced in the statue vide section 144B of the Act which reads as under:- "Faceless Assessment. 144b. 6[(1) notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other provision of this act, the assessment, reassessment or recomputation under sub-section (3) of section 143 or under section 144 or under section 147, as the case may be, with respect to the cases referred to in sub-section (2), shall be made in a faceless manner as per the following procedure, namely:-- (i) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall assign the case selected for the purposes of faceless assessment under this section to a specific assessment unit through an automated allocation system; (ii) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall intimate the assessee that assessment in his case shall be completed in accordance with the procedure laid down under this section; (iii) a notice shall be served on the assessee, through the National Faceless Assessment Centre, under sub-section (2) of section 143 or under sub- section (1) of section 142 and the assessee may file his response to such notice within the date specified therein, to the National Faceless Assessment Cent ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as referred to in clause (viii), a notice, through the National Faceless Assessment Centre, under section 144, giving him an opportunity to show-cause on a date and time as specified in such notice as to why the assessment in his case should not be completed to the best of its judgment; (x) he assessee shall, within the time specified in the notice referred to in clause (ix) or such time as may be extended on the basis of an application in this regard, file his response to the National Faceless Assessment Centre which shall forward the same to the assessment unit; (xi) where the assessee fails to file response to the notice served under clause (ix) within the time specified therein or within the extended time, if any, the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall intimate such failure to the assessment unit; (xii) the assessment unit shall, after taking into account all the relevant material available on the record, prepare, in writing,-- (a) an income or loss determination proposal, where no variation prejudicial to assessee is proposed and send a copy of such income or loss determination proposal to the National Faceless Assessment Centre; or (b) in any other case ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ring such review report, accept or reject some or all of the modifications proposed therein and after recording reasons in case of rejection of such modifications, prepare a draft order; (xx) the assessment unit shall send such draft order prepared under sub-clause (a) of clause (xvi) or under clause (xix) to the National Faceless Assessment Centre; (xxi) in case of an eligible assessee, where there is a proposal to make any variation which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee, as mentioned in sub-section (1) under section 144C, the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall serve the draft order referred to in clause (xx) on the assessee; (xxii) in any case other than that referred to in clause (xxi), the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall convey to the assessment unit to pass the final assessment order in accordance with such draft order, which shall thereafter pass the final assessment order and initiate penalty proceedings, if any, and send it to the National Faceless Assessment Centre; (xxiii) upon receiving the final assessment order as per clause (xxii), the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall serve a copy of such order and notice for initi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... proceedings, if any, on the assessee, along with the demand notice, specifying the sum payable by, or the amount of refund due to, the assessee on the basis of such assessment; (xxxi) the National Faceless Assessment Centre shall, after completion of assessment, transfer all the electronic records of the case to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over the said case for such action as may be required under the provisions of this Act; (xxxii) if at any stage of the proceedings before it, the assessment unit having regard to the nature and complexity of the accounts, volume of the accounts, doubts about the correctness of accounts, multiplicity of transactions in the accounts or specialised nature of business activity of the assessee, and the interests of the revenue, is of the opinion that it is necessary to do so, it may, upon recording its reasons in writing, refer the case to the National Faceless Assessment Centre stating that the provisions of sub-section (2A) of section 142 may be invoked and such case shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (7). (2) The faceless assessment under sub-section (1) shall be made in respect of such terri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be required in a particular case or a class of cases, under this section and the term "technical unit", wherever used in this section, shall refer to an Assessing Officer having powers so assigned by the Board; (v) such review units, as it may deem necessary to facilitate the conduct of faceless assessment, to perform the function of review of the income determination proposal assigned under sub-clause (b) of clause (xvi) of sub- section (1), which includes checking whether the relevant and material evidence has been brought on record, relevant points of fact and law have been duly incorporated, the issues requiring addition or disallowance have been incorporated and such other functions as may be required for the purposes of review and the term "review unit", wherever used in this section, shall refer to an Assessing Officer having powers so assigned by the Board. (4) The assessment unit, verification unit, technical unit and the review unit shall have the following authorities, namely:-- (i) Additional Commissioner or Additional Director or Joint Commissioner or Joint Director, as the case may be; (ii) Deputy Commissioner or Deputy Director or Assi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ommunication, through his registered account, and once an acknowledgement is sent by the National Faceless Assessment Centre containing the hash result generated upon successful submission of response, the response shall be deemed to be authenticated; (v) the time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic record shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); (vi) a person shall not be required to appear either personally or through authorised representative in connection with any proceedings before any unit set up under this section; (vii) in a case where a variation is proposed in the income or loss determination proposal or the draft order, and an opportunity is provided to the assessee by serving a notice calling upon him to show cause as to why the assessment should not be completed as per such income or loss determination proposal, the assessee or his authorised representative, as the case may be, may request for personal hearing so as to make his oral submissions or present his case before the income- tax authority of the relevant unit; (viii) where the request for personal hearing ha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner having jurisdiction over such case, and inform the assessment unit accordingly; (ii) transfer the case to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such case in accordance with sub-section (8); (b) where a reference has been received by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner under sub-clause (i) of clause (a), he shall direct the Assessing Officer, having jurisdiction over the case, to invoke the provisions of sub-section (2A) of section 142; (c) where a reference has not been forwarded to the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, having jurisdiction over the case, in a case referred to in sub-clause (i) of clause (a), the assessment unit shall proceed to complete the assessment in accordance with the procedure laid down in this section. (8) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the Principal Chief Commissioner or the Principal Director General, as the case may be, in-charge of National Faceless Assessment Centre may, at any stage of the assessment, if considered necessa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in 'e-Proceeding' facility through assessee's registered account in designated portal; (l) "electronic record" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); 7[(la) "electronic verification code" means a code generated for the purpose of electronic verification as per the data structure and standards specified by the Principal Director General or Director General, as the case may be, in-charge of information technology;] (m) "eligible assessee" shall have the same meaning as assigned to in clause (b) of sub-section (15) of section 144C; (n) "email" or "electronic mail" and "electronic mail message" means a message or information created or transmitted or received on a computer, computer system, computer resource or communication device including attachments in text, image, audio, video and any other electronic record, which may be transmitted with the message; (o) "hash function" and "hash result" shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the Explanation to sub-section ( ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ection 144B(6)(v) clearly stipulates that the time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic record shall be determined in accordance with the provision of section 13 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. In this regard, the provision of section 13 of the Act National Information Act, 2000 requires to be reproduced which is as under:- "13. Time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic record. (1) Save as otherwise agreed to between the originator and the addressee, the dispatch of an electronic record occurs when it enters a computer resource outside the control of the originator. (2) Save as otherwise agreed between the originator and the addressee, the time of receipt of an electronic record shall be determined as follows, namely (a) if the addressee has designated a computer resource for the purpose of receiving electronic records,- (f) receipt occurs at the time when the electronic record enters the designated computer resource; or (ii) if the electronic record is sent to a computer resource of the addressee that is not the designated computer resource, receipt occurs at the time when the electronic record is retrieved by the addressee: (b) if the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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