JAO Can’t Bypass Faceless Mandate – U/s 148 Notice Issued Outside Scheme Quashed

Swamedas Panithasan Vs ITO (ITAT Chennai) Chennai ITAT quashed the reassessment proceedings in Swamedas Panithasan vs ITO for AY 2015-16, holding that the notice u/s 148 dated 04-04-2022 issued by the Jurisdictional AO (JAO) was invalid in law, as it violated the CBDT Notification dated 29-03-2022 introducing the e-Assessment of Income Escaping Assessment Scheme, 2022. The Tribunal noted that post-notification, issuance of notice u/s 148 must be through faceless mode via NFAC/FAO, and not by the local JAO. Since the impugned notice was issued after 29-03-2022 and admittedly by the JAO (Non-Cor...