Summary of Finance Minister’s Meeting with Pr. CCsIT

On August 21, 2024, the Hon’ble Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs held an interactive meeting with Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax (Pr. CCsIT) and other senior officials. The meeting began with a presentation showcasing the Income Tax Department’s progress and best practices across regions. Key proposals discussed included merging Junior Assessment Officers (JAOs) and Faceless Assessment Officers (FAOs) to enhance grievance redressal, which received unanimous support. Concerns were raised about the lack of jurisdictional officers in some offices, potentially affecting taxpayer satisfaction. Various Pr. CCsIT highlighted issues such as increased workloads for JAOs and suggested a hybrid structure to manage these challenges effectively. Infrastructure issues were also addressed, with directions given to explore properties from BSNL and MTNL at market rates to expedite processes. The Minister emphasized the importance of recruiting officers with local language skills and suggested compiling a list of competent advocates for tax-related cases. Additional discussions included the visibility of officers’ names in Faceless regime orders to enhance accountability and motivation. The Minister concluded by emphasizing the value of regular meetings with Pr. CCsIT to foster meaningful discussions on common concerns.
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F No. 402/70/2023-ITCCGovernment of IndiaMinistry of FinanceDepartment of RevenueCentral Board of Direct Taxes
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North Block, New DelhiDated: 26 September, 2024
Subject: Summary of the Interaction of the Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs with all the Pr. CCsIT held on 21st August, 2024 at 03:OOPM
An interactive meeting of the Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs was held with all Pr. CCsIT/Pr. DsGIT on 21stAugust, 2024 at 03:00 PM. The meeting was attended by Secretary (Revenue), Chairman and all Members of CBDT and all Pr. CCsIT.
2. The summary of the meeting is as under:
2.1 CIT (IT&CT), CBDT welcomed the Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs and all the officers. She made a presentation regarding the journey of the Income-tax Department till date. Further, she highlighted the best practices carried out by all the regions across the country.
2.2 Pr. CCIT, Gujarat proposed that there should be 2 set-ups of JAOs & FAOs under each PCIT charge and PCIT level posts may be merged without diluting the Faceless Scheme, as it will help in expeditious redressal of grievances. Secretary (Revenue) enquired whether the merger should be at higher level or lower level or both. Pr. CCIT, Gujarat replied that it should happen at both the levels, which was agreed to by all unanimously.
2.3 Chairman, CBDT stated that there were certain field offices which did not have jurisdictional officer but only faceless unit, which led to the dissatisfaction of the taxpayers. Pr. CCIT, Gujarat informed Hon’ble Finance Minister that based on his experience of working in Faceless Scheme for the last 4 years, the merger of JAO and FAO would be beneficial for the Department and taxpayers both. To this, Secretary (Revenue) stated that the only concern is of specialization and instead, we should re-structure and have more officers as JAOs. He further assured the Hon’ble Minister that the matter will be discussed further and a proposal will be made.
2.4 Pr. CCIT, TN&P stated that JAO charges have been created after merging 4-5 charges, resulting in the creation of huge workload for one officer. He proposed that we may draw some officers from faceless, so that the workload of JAOs is reduced.
2.5 Pr. CCIT, Bihar & Jharkhand stated that we may initially follow hybrid structure at the higher level.
2.6 Pr. CCIT, NaFAC & NFAC suggested that we may merge both JAO & Faceless verticals, since the faceless scheme has created heavy work load on JAOs and comparatively less workload with FAOs. She further stated that all the records must have been digitized before rolling out the faceless scheme. She further stated that faceless/ chehra-viheen was a negative word and we should think about renaming it with a term that is positive and reflective of the digital ecosystem of the department.
2.7 In respect of infrastructure issues, Pr. CCIT (TN&P) raised the issue of BSNL & ,MTNL offering properties at market rate instead of circle rate. He further stated whenever they propose to take them, IFU opposes them stating to take them at the circle rate only, which results in delay in the process. In this regard, Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs directed that this matter may be taken up by the Board with the concerned department and if any issue arises, Secretary (Revenue) and she would take up the matter with the respective Ministry. Further, she directed all Pr. CCsIT to explore all BSNL & MTNL properties in their respective regions and make a list of the same. Properties at Mumbai, Delhi and Tamil Nadu were to be taken up immediately than wait for all regions to submit their proposals.
[Action: All Pr. CCsIT]
2.8 Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs stated that recruitment at Group C level should be done of applicants with local language proficiency and directed Secretary (Revenue) to take up this matter with DoPT.
2.9 In respect of NCLT & IBC cases, Pr. CCIT, Kolkata expressed his concern that the officers are not conversant with the procedure and the advocates provided by the MI° Law and Justice are inept. Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs stated that the advocates provided by the Mbo Law and Justice are not well versed to handle tax related matters. She further directed the Board to make a complete list of the advocates, who are experts in tax related matters. In this regard, Secretary (Revenue) stated that the remuneration provided to the special counsels is very low. Further, Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs directed the Board to do an audit of cases won and lost during the last 10 years at the level of High Court and Supreme Court. She also directed the Board to analyse the age of the cases pending at High Court and Supreme Court and so also time taken to dispose the cases. She directed, the Board to make an analysis of cases which were lost at High Court and above and to analyse reasons thereof and how we may learn from them.
[Action: A&J Division]
2.10 Pr. CCIT, Bangalore stated that in the Faceless regime, the name of the officers do not get printed in the orders passed by them, leading to lack of ownership and demotivation. In this regard, Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs agreed that the names of the officers may be made visible.
[Action: Pr. CCIT (NaFAC)]
2.11 Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs lastly mentioned that the interaction with the Pr. CCsIT was a beneficial exercise and that it should be done twice a year so that deliberations and discussions on matters of common interest can be conducted meaningfully.
(Sunil Kumar Pandey)DS (ITCC)
Copy for information and necessary action to:
1. Chairman and all Members, CBDT
2. All Pr. CCsITs/Pr. DsGIT
3. DGIT (Systems)
4. All JS/CIT, CBDT