The Income tax Ombudsman Guidelines are introduced with
the objective of enabling the resolution of complaints relating to public
grievances against the Income Tax Department and to facilitate settlement of
such complaints.
The Ombudsman shall be independent of the jurisdiction ofthe Income Tax Department.The offices of Income Tax Ombudsman shall initially
be located at NewDelhi,Mumbai,Chennai,Kolkata,Bangalore,Hyderabad,Ahmedabad,Pune,Lucknow,Bhopal and Kochi.
Grounds
on which complaint can be filed:
A complaint on anyone or more of the following grounds
alleging deficiency in the working of the Income-tax Department may be filed
with the Ombudsman:
(a)Delay in issue of refunds beyond time limits prescribed
by law or under the relevant instructions issued from time to time by the
Central Board of Direct Taxes.
(c) Non adherence to the principle of 'First Come First
Served' in sending refunds.
(d) Non acknowledgement of letters or documents sent to
the department.
(e)Non up-dating of demand and other registers au leading
to harassment of assesses.
(f)Lack of transparency in identifying cases for scrutiny
and non communication of reasons for selecting COl the case for scrutiny.
(g)Delay in disposing cases of interest waiver.
(i) Delay in giving effect to the appellate orders.
(j)Delay in release of seized books of account and assets,
after the proceedings under the Income-tax Act in respect of the years for
which the books of account or other documents are relevant are completed.
(k) Delay in allotment of permanent account number (PAN).
(m)Non adherence to prescribed working hours Income Tax
officials.
(n) Unwarranted rude behavior of Income Tax officials
with assesses.
(o) Any other matter relating to violation of the administrative instructions and circulars issued by the Central Board of Direct
Taxes in relation to Income-tax administration.
Procedure
for filing the complaint:
Any person, who has a grievance against the Income-tax
Department, may, himself or through his registers authorized representative,
make a complaint against the Income-tax official in writing to the Ombudsman.
(a)The complaint shall be duly signed by the complainant
and his authorized representative,if any,and shall state clearly the name and
address of the complainant,the name of the office and official of the Income-tax Department against whom the complaint is made, the facts giving rise
to the complaint supported by documents, if any, relied on by the complainant
and the relief sought from the Ombudsman.
(b)A complaint
made through electronic means shall also be accepted by the Ombudsman and a
print out of such complaint shall be taken on the record of the Ombudsman.
(c)A print out of the complaint made through electronic means shall be signed by the complainant at the earliest possible opportunity
before the Ombudsman takes steps for conciliation or settlement.
(d)The signed printout shall be deemed to be the
complaint and it shall relate back to the date on which the complaint was made
through electronic means.
No
complaint to the Ombudsman shall be kept pending unless:-
(a)The complainant had, before making a complaint to the
Ombudsman, made a written representation to the Income Tax authority superior
to the one complained against and either such authority had rejected the complaint
or the complainant had not received any reply within a period of one month
after such authority had received his representation or the complainant is not
satisfied with the reply given to him by such authority.
(b)The complaint is made not later than one year after
the complainant has received the reply of the department to his representation
or, in case, where no reply is received, not later than one year and one month
after the representation to the Income Tax Authority.
(c)The complaint is not in respect of the same subject
matter which was settled through the Office of the Ombudsman in any previous
proceedings whether or not received from the same complainant or along with
anyone or more complainants or anyone or more of the parties concerned with the
subject matter.
No complaint shall be made to the Income-tax Ombudsman on
an issue which has been or is the subject matter of any proceeding in an
appeal, revision, reference or writ before any Income-tax Authority or
Appellate Authority or Tribunal or Court.
For more details,
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