The Government has amended the Income-tax Rules, 1962 (‘the Rules’) via notification no G.S.R. 616(E) dated September 6, 2021 to facilitate the authentication of electronic records in faceless assessment proceedings. The amended Rules state that electronic records submitted through a taxpayer’s registered account in the Income-tax Department’s portal are deemed to have been authenticated by an electronic verification code (EVC).

As a result, when a person submits an electronic record by logging into his registered account in the Income-tax Department’s designated portal, the electronic record is deemed to have been authenticated by EVC for the purposes of section 144B(7)(i)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘the Act’).

However, under the existing provisions of Section 144B(7)(i)(b) of the Act, this simplified process of authentication by EVC is not available to certain persons (such as companies, tax audit cases, and so on), and they are required to authenticate the electronic records through digital signature.

To provide these individuals with the benefit of the simplified EVC authentication process, it has been decided to extend the simplified EVC authentication process to them as well. As a result, persons who are required to authenticate electronic records by digital signature will be deemed to have done so when they submit the record through their registered account in the Income-tax Department’s portal. Legislative amendments will be proposed in this regard in due course.