Introduction of Self-assessment
In terms of Section 2(11) of the Act, “assessment” means determination of tax liability under this Act and includes self-assessment, re-assessment, provisional assessment, summary assessment and best judgement assessment. It is important to note that there is no provision permitting a Proper Officer to re-assess the tax liability of taxable person. As such, reference to such re-assessment in the definition may have to be suitably read down.
It is normally understood that an Assessment is conducted by a proper officer. In terms of Section 2(91) of the CGST Act, 2017 a “proper officer” in relation to any function to be performed under this Act, means the Commissioner or the officer of the central tax who is assigned that function by the Commissioner in the Board;
The CGST Act contemplates the following types of Assessments:
Self-assessment (Section 59)
Provisional Assessment (Section 60)
Scrutiny of returns filed by registered taxable persons (Section 61 )
Assessment of non-filers of returns (Section 62)
Assessment of unregistered persons (Section 63)
Summary Assessment in certain special cases (Section 64)
(i) Self-assessment in terms of Section 59 refers to the assessment made by registered person himself / itself while all other assessments are undertaken by tax authorities.
(ii) Provisional Assessment under Section 60 is an assessment undertaken at the instance of the registered person. Provisional Assessment is followed by a final Assessment.
(iii) Scrutiny Assessment under section 61 is a form of re-assessment (since the selfassessment is made by the registered person himself / itself. A scrutiny of returns conducted by the proper officer who checks for the correctness of the returns filed and intimates the registered person of any discrepancies noticed.
(iv) Assessment of non-filers u/s 62 and Assessment of un-registered person u/s 63 are in the nature of best judgement assessments.
(v) Summary Assessment under Section 64 is a form of protective assessment based on information gathered from the tax authorities in a particular case.