Change Assessing Officer and Jurisdiction for Income Tax: Every citizen of our country must file their income tax return. The assessee needs to speak to the income tax authorities for various reasons. It can clarify any doubt the officials may have or talk about their grievances related to tax filing. Hence, it is crucial to know under whose jurisdiction of the Income Tax Department you come. You can learn about everything related to Income tax, such as the tax ward, circle, assessing officer, etc., from the change of setting officer and the jurisdiction.
We will discuss the officer, their jurisdictions, and the circumstances in which you can contact them if required. You can also get to know how to change the assessing officer if you need.
Overview of the Assessing Officer
An assessing offer is a person who has the authority or jurisdiction to make tax assessments of an assessee, i.e., you. You may know them as the Income-tax Officer, the Assistant Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner, the Joint Commissioner, or the Additional Commissioner. They all have different natures of trade and other incomes according to their position.
How You Get Assigned with an Assessing Officer?
If you are a taxpayer, then your address in your PAN card determines under whose jurisdiction you come. You will be under the income tax officer accordingly. They have the responsibility of assessing the records of all taxpayers in the geographic area under their jurisdiction. They will determine the returns for you.
How to Identify Your PAN Jurisdiction and AO Code?
If you are looking for your PAN jurisdiction details and the information of your current AO, you can get it without logging in to the income tax portal by following the steps below.
- Go to the official website of the income tax department.
- Then click on the ‘Know your Jurisdictional AO’ link on the site.
- Enter your PAN number and mobile number.
- Hit submit.
- You can receive a one-time password on the phone number you have registered with the authorities.
- You have to enter it in the space on the website. (You will get three attempts to enter the correct OTP)
When Can You Contact the Assessing Officer?
You can contact the officer in charge if you have concerns regarding the following points.
- To clarify the income tax returns.
- To respond to invalid outstanding demand or clarification regarding the satisfaction of outstanding demand.
- To rectify the Challan no. 280.
- To present notice for processing income tax returns from the assessing officer.
- For challan no. 280 correction
While filling the challan no. 280 for self-assessment tax, if there is some mistake such as wrong assessment year or incorrect TAN or PAN, it is necessary to correct it. Otherwise, the tax authorities will not be able to credit the refund, and you might get a notice from the Income-tax department for the tax due.
Does Change in PAN Address Automatically Change Assessing Officer?
The change in your PAN address does not automatically change the assessing officer in the database. If you need to change the assessing officer since you have changed the address, you have to write to your current officer. They will take the necessary steps to transfer the jurisdiction and record to the appropriate officer. Your current assessing officer will help you migrate to the new jurisdiction if they are satisfied with the proposal. They will notify the new officer.
Hence the conditions under which you can change the assessing officer are as follows.
- Change of address of jurisdiction
- Change of assessing officer in case of unethical behavior
How to Change The Assessing Officer in Case of Change in Address?
There are two ways you can change the officer after an address change. The first option is to visit the office physically.
- Please make an application with the competent authority, and print six copies of it.
- Send one copy of the application to the AO, CIT, and Addl/ Jt. CIT. each.
For example, if you have moved from one place to another, you will need to intimate the current jurisdictional tax officer by writing a letter to them. In some rare cases, the jurisdiction can get modified without your request, but it is unlikely.
The other option is to make the changes through the online government portal.
- Firstly, log on to the NSDL site and apply for the updates with the address on the PAN card.
- Please make an application to the current jurisdictional officer and request them to transfer your assessment records to the new officer in the new area.
- Pay the requisite fees.
- Provide the following details:
- Your PAN number and name
- Your current AO circle and ward
- The details of the AO circle or ward where you wish to seek the transfer
- Reason for transfer
For example, I am residing in Jharkhand, and my Jurisdiction is Ward 33, Jharkhand; due to some reasons, I wish to shift to Kolkata and intend to change my ward. Hence, I have submitted an application to my assessment officer in Jharkhand asking for the transfer of all my legal documents to the officer in Kolkata and the said acknowledgment letter’s copy to the new jurisdictional officer and inform them about the update that they will receive.
How to Change your AO by Changing your Address in your PAN?
Each PAN holder has a separate range based on their income and geographic details. People need to know about it since it will be helpful to them in the future if they wish to change their address. You can follow the steps below to change the address on your PAN card.
- Visit the NSDL website.
- Go to the New PAN correction DSC.
- Please fill all the relevant parts of the application and upload all necessary documents supporting it along with a photograph.
- Submit the form.
- Make the payment.
- Save and print the acknowledgment notice you receive at the end of the transaction or submission.
- Sign this acknowledgment after signing it and glue on your photographs, and sign on one of them as well.
- Send this signed acknowledgment letter to the NSDL with all supporting documents by post with fifteen days of online application.
Disclaimer: It is vital to read the guidelines on the NSDL website before you fill the form so that you don’t make any mistakes while filling it.
How To Make A Change If The Assessing Officer Is Unethical Or Impolite?
If you have a grievance or a complaint with your assessing officer, you can lodge a complaint to the Ombudsman in the income tax department. You require a complaint letter where you mention the following details.
- Your name and address
- The name of the assessing officer against whom you have a complaint
- Exact details of the grievance with relevant proof and documents to support your statement
- Signature of an authorized representative
- If you wish, you can also provide an online complaint to the Ombudsman and they will sign it.
- The date when you send the letter is considered as the date of filing the complaint.
If you are not satisfied with the authority, since they don’t perform their duties ethically, you can request for the change. The grounds for which you can choose to change your officer for unethical practices are as follows.
- Income tax officials behave rudely with the assessee
- Delay in the payment of refunds beyond the reasonable time limit
- Lack of transparency while identifying the cases for scrutiny and non-communication
- If the AO does not perform its duties
If the AO has wrongly assessed your return (For example, if the AO has made a mistake in treating the expenses of construction of Rs. 2,00,000 as capital expenditure, then the aggrieved party doesn’t need to submit any applications or documents. They can directly appeal within thirty days of receiving the order. The commissioner will then decide a date and time for the hearing from the aggrieved party and the AO).
Where to Address The Letter About Changing The Assessing Officer?
Two situations may occur here if the current assessing officer and the transferred officer may fall under the same jurisdiction of The Director-General or Chief Commissioner of Income Tax or Commissioner of Income-tax or CIT. In this case, they should get the letter about the change with a copy to the assessing officer (AO) in case it is an issue where you want to change your address.
Suppose the current assessing officer and the assessing officer where you wish to transfer do not fall under the jurisdiction of the same Director General or Chief Commissioner of Income Tax and Commissioner of Income-tax or CIT. In that case, you can write the application to the Director-General or DGIT or the Chief Commissioner of Income.
Examples of Mail
For Income Tax Refund
Dear Mr./ Mrs./ Ms. SO,
We are pleased to inform you that your Income Tax Refund as determined by the ITD has been processed.
Kindly find attached the payment details. The advice is password protected. Kindly use your PAN number in capital letters to open it.
For more details kindly contact the CPC XYZ at 1800-425-2229 (toll-free) or 080-2256500 if you have filed the return online. You can visit the local income tax ward and contact your assessing officer.
In Response to Outstanding Tax Demand
Dear SO,
The response for outstanding tax demand is submitted for the User ID ACXXXXX8D, and your transaction ID is 20202020.
Disclaimer: Though your response has been recorded it is subjected to verification and confirmation by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer.
How to Track the Application for Change in Assessing Officer?
Generally, if you have posted an application, you will receive emails about the updates on your email. You can also get updates on the correspondence address from the department informing them about the change in the address and jurisdictional officer. Once your officer has successfully changed, you can check it from the KNOW YOUR JURISDICTION section online.
Significance of Knowing your PAN Jurisdiction and Assessing Officer
Your assessing officer has several responsibilities, including the following:
- Issuing the PAN Card
- Ensuring the Taxes are collected timely
- Assessing the income and calculating the tax you owe
- Evaluating your income returns of ITR
- Issuing tax refunds
- Providing solutions for the complaints by the taxpayers under their jurisdiction
- Sending notices in case there are any discrepancies in the ITRs
The AO also has many other responsibilities. They also hold the power to impose penalties on you or wave them off. Each income tax department of the ward has one or more AOs for them. If you know your PAN jurisdiction and the AO is helpful when you wish to visit them in person or to send an email. You might want to contact them about a notice that you received or to give clarification for the information. Visiting them can serve other purposes as well, such as raising a dispute about a notice, making a complaint about some part of the income tax process, and much more.
The AO code consists of four elements as follows.
- Area code
- Range type
- AO type
- AO number
Furthermore, there are four AO code types that will help the authorities to identify the individual or the company and to associate them with the proper tax laws.
It is easy to know your PAN AO’s jurisdiction if you have a valid PAN card number. You can find it out by entering the AO code and your PAN details on the official website. Apart from this, you may have to provide these details when you wish to file the income tax returns.
There isn’t any way you can migrate your PAN without the current assessing officer accepting your request for transfer. It is best to deal with it as soon as possible because it might take some time.