Recovery Proceedings on Arrears of Income Tax: Kerala HC directs NFAC to decide Appeal expeditiously [Read Order]

The Kerala High Court directed the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC) to decide appeal expeditiously in the matter of recovery proceedings on arrears of income tax.

The petitioner in the present matter is Shameem Thari. The present writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for a direction to the 2nd respondent to dispose of the series appeals and series stay applications against series assessment orders.

Recently, the government introduced the concept of faceless assessments, whereby scrutiny assessments are carried out in a faceless manner, that is, without any physical meeting or submission of physical documents. The National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC), along with other centres and units, have been established by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

Faceless assessments seek to eliminate the human interface between the taxpayer and the income tax department. The faceless assessment scheme lays down the procedure to carry out such an assessment in electronic mode

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that, the petitioner had approached the Appellate Authority on time against the assessment orders series. However, no decision has been taken either on stay petitions or appeals and the petitioner is facing recovery proceedings on the arrears of tax determined in the assessment order series.

A Single Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh observed that “Considering the aforesaid facts, the present writ petition is disposed of, with a direction to the 2nd respondent to pass appropriate orders on series appeals. However, if it is not possible to decide series appeals, at least series stay applications of the petitioner should be decided in accordance with the law, expeditiously.”

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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