Ms. Vaibhav Kulkarni, Senior Tax Professional, Ernst & Young
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued an instruction on July 5, 2013 specifying the procedure to
be followed on the receipt and disposal of rectification applications filed under Section 154 of the Income-Tax Act, 1961.
Receipt of applications..!
For receipt of applications in offices where Aayakar Seva Kendra (ASK) is functional / ASK software is used, all applications received will have to entered into the system by the ASK and a system-generated ASK acknowledgment number will be given to the taxpayer.
The acknowledgment number of the application provided at the ASK receipt counter will be transmitted online to the assessing officer while the paper application will be physically forwarded to the assessing officer.
In offices where neither the ASK is functional nor the ASK software is used, the applications will be received & diarized and an acknowledgment number will be given by the receiving jurisdictional assessing officer, immediately at the time of filing the application.
Maintenance of Registers..!
Rectification applications have to be compulsorily uploaded in the online rectification register (ORR) by the assessing officer on the day the application is received by him either through ASK / ASK software or in his own office.
The acknowledgment number provided to the taxpayer at the time of receiving application must be entered in ORR in the appropriate column.
Disposal of Application..!
As per Section 154 of the I - T Act, each application has to be disposed of by passing appropriate order within 6 months from the end of the month in which the application is received. The concerned authorities should ensure that rectification applications are decided within this period. Every rectification application has to be processed through ITD applications only and where applications were received through ASK / ASK software.
The assessing officer should also flag / mark the disposal of rectification application in ASK Software so that its disposed status could be tracked down.
The order under Section 154 of the Income - Tax Act must fulfill all the legal requirements, should be a speaking order & has to be communicated to the taxpayer immediately after its disposal.
In respect of e-filed returns, the rectification applications are also filed online. The Central Processing Centre (CPC) would be required to immediately identify whether action can be taken at its own end or / it has to be transferred to the assessing officer for necessary action.
If the CPC is required to take action, it would do so within the time frame prescribed. On the other hand, if the assessing officer is required to dispose it of, he would enter the same in the online rectification register, process it and shall again make necessary entries therein once the same is disposed of.
This is a welcome change ushered in by the CBDT to expedite passing of all orders filed with the tax authorities on rectification applications as this would place the onus on tax officers to dispose of rectification applications within the prescribed time limits.
*The writer is senior tax professional, Ernst & Young. Views expressed are personal)
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