CBI Arrests Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax for Sabotaging Faceless Tax Assessment Scheme
The CBI arrested Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax for allegedly sabotaging the government’s Faceless Tax Assessment Scheme through bribery and misuse of confidential information.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and a private person for allegedly sabotaging the Faceless Tax Assessment Scheme introduced by the Government of India. These arrests were made as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption and misuse of the system meant to make tax assessments more transparent and fair. The Faceless Scheme...
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and a private person for allegedly sabotaging the Faceless Tax Assessment Scheme introduced by the Government of India. These arrests were made as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption and misuse of the system meant to make tax assessments more transparent and fair.
The Faceless Scheme of Income Tax Assessment was launched by the government as an important step toward tax reform. The main purpose of this scheme is to reduce direct contact between taxpayers and tax officers. Under this scheme, taxpayers do not know which officer is handling their case, and officers also do not know the taxpayers personally.
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This system was designed to prevent corruption, ensure fairness, and remove human bias from the assessment process. It is called ‘faceless’ because there is no face-to-face interaction between the officer and the taxpayer.
According to the CBI, the arrested Deputy Commissioner and the private person were part of a larger conspiracy to defeat the purpose of this scheme. The investigation has found that they, along with some other people, were contacting taxpayers who had big pending assessment cases. They were promising these taxpayers that they could get a favorable order in their income tax assessment if they paid bribes.
To make these promises, the accused were sharing secret and confidential information about the cases, including details like the names of the assessment officers and the issues under scrutiny. This information is not supposed to be shared under the Faceless Scheme.
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The CBI stated that this case began after the Income Tax Department filed a complaint. Following the complaint, the CBI started an enquiry and found enough evidence to register a case against several people. Apart from the Deputy Commissioner and the private person, the case also names two Income Tax Inspectors, five Chartered Accountants, and some other unknown people.
Earlier this year, on February 6, 2025, the CBI had carried out searches at 18 different locations across India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Thane, West Champaran in Bihar, Bengaluru, and Kottayam in Kerala. During these searches, the agency recovered many documents, digital evidence, and proof of bribe payments. These materials helped confirm the illegal activities of the accused.
The arrested individuals were presented before the court, and the investigation is still continuing. The CBI said that they will take strict action against anyone found guilty in this case. The agency also added that such activities harm the trust of the public in government schemes and damage the efforts to make tax systems honest and transparent.
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