Jurisdictional PCIT Can Exercise Power u/s 263 Over Order Passed By Faceless Assessment Unit | ITAT

Case Details: RDC Ventures vs. Principal Commissioner of Income Tax - [2024] 159 taxmann.com 395 (Mumbai-Trib.)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Vikas Awasthy, Judicial Member & Amarjit Singh, Accountant Member
  • Dhran Gandhi for the Appellant.
  • Sanyogita Nagpal for the Appellant.

Facts of the Case

Assessee filed its return for the relevant assessment year, which was subsequently selected for the scrutiny assessment under the E-assessment Scheme 2019. The assessment under section 143(3) was finalised under the faceless assessment scheme by accepting the income returned by the assessee.

Afterwards, the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (PCIT) noticed that the assessee debited interest expenditure while following the project completion method and exercised jurisdiction under section 263.

Contending that PCIT has no jurisdiction to invoke revisionary power under section 263 as NFAC passed the assessment order, the assessee filed an appeal before the Mumbai Tribunal.

ITAT Held

The Tribunal held that section 144B provides the whole procedure of faceless assessment. As per the detailed procedure laid down in clause xxxi of section 144AB(1), the National e-Assessment Center shall, after completion of the assessment, transfer all the electronic records of the case to the Assessing Officer (AO) having jurisdiction over the said case for such action as may be required under the provisions of the Act.

Section 144B dictates that the faceless assessment unit shifts electronic case records to the AO with territorial jurisdiction post-assessment. Subsequent actions fall under the purview of the AO and PCIT with corresponding territorial jurisdiction.

Accordingly, it was held that once the records are transferred to the jurisdictional AO on completion of the assessment, the jurisdictional PCIT assumes jurisdiction and, therefore, can exercise power under section 263 over the order passed by the faceless assessment unit.