The finance ministry on Tuesday stated that any kind of communication from the income tax department will have to comprise a Documentation Identification Number (DIN) otherwise it would be treated as invalid.
The DIN system of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come into existence from Tuesday, a notification released by the ministry stated.
A total of 17500 communications with DIN have been made right on first day after it came into existence.
The DIN system, which has been created according to the directions of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, would ensure greater accountability and transparency in tax administration.
The notification stated that any kind of communication such as a notice, letter, order, summons or any other correspondence would be treated as invalid or deemed as if it has never been issued if it does not comprises of a DIN.
Revenue secretary Ajit Bhushan Pandey said, “Now from today onwards, all such communications with DIN would be verifiable on the e-filing portal and no communication would be issued manually without DIN except only if it is in the specified exceptional circumstances”
However, the concerned officer, while issuing an exceptional communication without DIN, would have to obtain a written approval of the Chief Commissioner/Director General of Income Tax otherwise it would be treated as invalid and non-established in law.
Moreover, the concerned officer should upload any kind of manual communications on the system portal within 15 days.
All the income tax notices issued by the department after August 14 this year will have to be uploaded on the system portal, the notification stated.
The move has been taken in accordance with the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had asked the revenue department to come up with better ways of providing efficient and secured services to honest taxpayers.