Section 260 — Faceless collection of information. Successor to s.135A of the 1961 Act.
Section 260 is in Chapter XIV — Tax Administration, which runs from section 236 to section 261.
Sub-section (1) empowers the Central Government to make a scheme, by notification, for calling for information under section 252, collecting certain information under section 254, calling for information by a prescribed income-tax authority under section 259, exercising the power to inspect the register of companies under section 255, or exercising the power of the Assessing Officer under section 256 — so as to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by eliminating the interface between the income-tax authority and the assessee or any other person to the extent technologically feasible, by optimising the use of resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation, and by introducing a team-based exercise of those powers with dynamic jurisdiction.
Sub-section (2) allows the Central Government, by notification, to direct that any provisions of the Act shall not apply, or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as specified, for giving effect to the scheme. Sub-section (3) requires every notification under sub-sections (1) and (2) to be laid before each House of Parliament as soon as may be after it is issued.
The information-gathering powers in sections 252 to 259 were written for an officer dealing with a person face to face. This section lets the Government re-lay them on a faceless, team-based footing with dynamic jurisdiction, with the laying requirement in sub-section (3) as the parliamentary check.
The section creates no obligation on any person by itself — it is a power to reorganise how five existing powers are exercised, and until a scheme is notified the ordinary provisions operate. What makes sub-section (2) significant is its reach: a notification may disapply or modify provisions of the Act itself to fit the scheme. Dynamic jurisdiction and team-based exercise mean the authority acting need not be the officer who otherwise holds the case.
You meet it indirectly — as the authority cited in a faceless notice or communication calling for or collecting information under section 252, 254, 255, 256 or 259, where no named local officer is dealing with you. The section itself is never applied to compute anyone's income.
eliminating the interface between the income-tax authority and the assessee or any other person to the extent technologically feasible
introducing a team-based exercise of powers, including to call for, or collect, or process, or utilise, the information, with dynamic jurisdiction
direct that any of the provisions of this Act shall not apply or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as specified in the notification
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.