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Instruction No. 14/2013

F.No. 225/153/2013/ITA.II
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes

North-Block, ITA-II, Division
New Delhi the 23 ^rd of September, 2013

To
All Chief -Commissioners of Income-tax
All Director-General of Income-tax

Sir/Madam,

Subject: Standing Operating Procedure for cases under Non-filers Monitoring System ('NMS) regarding-

The existing procedure for monitoring  cases of 'Non-Filers of IT Returns' as identified by  Director General of Income tax (System) has been examined by the Board . It is felt that at present, cases of Non-Filers  are not being uniformly monitored  by the Assessing Officers due to lack of consistency in approach in dealing with such cases. Therefore, in order to streamline processing of such cases and to ensure consistency in monitoring NMS cases by the Assessing Officers, the Board, hereby lays down the following Standard Operating Procedure:

1. The Assessing  Officer should  issue  letter  to  the  assessee  within  15 days  of  the  case  being assigned in    MS, seeking information  about the return of income flagged in NMS. Facility to generate letter has been provided in the NMS module of i-taxnet.

2. If the letter is delivered, the Assessing Officer should capture the delivery date in the NMS module.

3. If  the  letter  is  not  delivered ,  the  Assessing  Officer  should  issue  letter  to   the    alternate  addresses      the assesse available in the Online Monitoring System or any other  address available  with  the Assessing  Officer through  field  enquiries or otherwise. All  addresses used in IT  Return, AIR,  CIB  databases  have  been  made  available  to  the  Assessing  Officer  in  the Online Monitoring System to assist the field formations in identification  of current address  of the taxpayer

4. If the return is received, the assessing officer should capture the details in AST within 15 days of filing of the return. If the assessee informs that paper return has already been filed which was not captured in AST, the details of return should be entered in the AST within 15 days of receiving such information. E-filed returns will be automatically pushed to NMS

5. · If no return is required to be filed in the case (non resident etc.), the Assessing Officer should mark  "No  return  is  required"  and  mention  reason  for the  same  in  NMS  which  needs  to be confirmed by Range head.

6. If the Assessing Officer is not able to serve the  letter  and  identify  the  taxpayer,  assessing officer should mark the assessee "Assessee not traceable" in  NMS  which  needs  to  be confirmed by Range head.

7. In cases where the assesse has been identified and no return has been filed within 30 days of the time given in the letter, the Assessing Officer should consider initiation of proceedings u/s 142(1) 148 in AST.

8. The case shall be processed every week by the Directorate of Systems and will be marked as closed in NMS if one of the following actions are taken for A.Yr.'s   2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13:
(a) Details of return are available in AST
(b) Notice u/s 142(1) or 148 has been issued in AST
(c) "No return is required" is marked by the Assessing Officer and confirmed by Range head

I am further directed to state that the above be brought to notice of all officers working under your jurisdiction for necessary and strict compliance.

(Rohit Garg)
Deputy Secretary Government of India

Related Update:
New Returns Filed due to Non-Filer Monitoring System (NMS) Click Here >>

CBDT-Standing Operating Procedure for Income Tax Cases under Non-filers Monitoring System (NMS) |23-09-2013|