As a new initiative, the taxmen shall now be checking on the new approach of jurisdiction- free assessment by launching a pilot project in Delhi and Mumbai. At first the dept. will identify the loopholes in the measure and thereafter implement in 100 cities as part of the first phase.

The procedure will involve allotment of a taxpayer's assessment to any of the tax officer across the country using a special software that shall be devised for the purpose. This shall be against the current practice of employing the tax officer of the jurisdiction in which the taxpayer falls.

"This is a first-of-its-kind initiative. Under this, neither the assessee nor the tax officer would know the other's identity," said a senior I-T official. The attempt is to keep tax payers interest at the fore and eliminate chances of corruption and harassment which is otherwise faced by them. All of the cases pertaining to tax shall be well encompassed in it that include tax return filing, scrutiny cases and others.

With it the system expects to dissolve the 18 tax regions and which majorly account for direct tax collection in the country. The new system shall also do with otherwise discretionary powers which the AO uses in his interest and against the taxpayer.

How the new system shall work?

In the jurisdiction free tax assessment, the system upon identifying the person against whom the scrutiny is to be done will through a software assign the matter to a AO of any jurisdiction say the taxpayer is from Delhi and the assigned officer is of Mumbai. And a unique identification number shall be generated. So, without knowing the identity of a person, the case details shall be handy in pursuing the investigation.

So by and large, more transparency shall be ruled in the system with mere interface between the taxpayer and assessing officer.

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