Notification No. 26/2021 [F. No. 370142/33/2020-TPL] / SO 1438(E)

What it does

Under sub-section (6B) of section 250 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Government makes the Faceless Appeal (Amendment) Scheme, 2021, amending the Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020. In paragraph 2, sub-paragraph (1), clause (xviii) is substituted so that 'National Faceless Assessment Centre' means the National e-Assessment Centre set up under the scheme notified under sub-section (3A) of section 143, or the National Faceless Assessment Centre referred to in section 144B, as the case may be. Throughout the Scheme, the expression 'National e-Assessment Centre' is substituted by 'National Faceless Assessment Centre' wherever it occurs.

Who it reaches

appellants whose appeals are handled under the Faceless Appeal Scheme
appeal units and the National Faceless Appeal Centre
assessing units and the assessment centre interacting with the appeal process
representatives drafting faceless appeal submissions

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.3	s.3
s.143	s.270
s.144B	s.273
s.250	s.359, s.532

The instrument, as the Board published it

The department publishes this one only as a PDF, so the words below were read out of that PDF by machine. That reading can carry its own mistakes — a misread number, a broken line. Check the signed document before you rely on a figure in it.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)
(CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 31st March, 2021
S.O. 1438(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (6B) of section 250 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby makes the following amendments in the Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020, namely: —

1. Short title and commencement.–– (1) The Scheme may be called the Faceless Appeal (Amendment) Scheme, 2021.
(2) It shall come into force on the 1st day of April, 2021.

2. In the Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020, —
(i) in paragraph (2), in sub-paragraph (1), for clause (xviii), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:—
'(xviii) "National Faceless Assessment Centre" shall mean the National e-Assessment Centre set up under the scheme notified under sub-section (3A) of section 143 of the Act or the National Faceless Assessment Centre referred to in section 144B of the Act, as the case may be;';
(ii) for the expression "National e-Assessment Centre", wherever it occurs, the expression "National Faceless Assessment Centre" shall be substituted.
[Notification No. 26/2021/F. No. 370142/33/2020-TPL]
SHEFALI SINGH, Under Secy., Tax Policy and Legislation

Note: The principal Scheme was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii) vide notification number S.O. 3296 (E), dated the 25th September, 2020, which has not been amended so far.

From when

1 April 2021.

What to watch

The amendment comes into force on 1 April 2021.
The change is one of nomenclature and definition, aligning the Scheme with the National Faceless Assessment Centre under section 144B; the substituted definition still covers the older National e-Assessment Centre set up under the section 143(3A) scheme.
The principal Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020, published as S.O. 3296(E) dated 25 September 2020, had not been amended before this.

Where you meet it

In notices, hearings and orders in an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) conducted under the Faceless Appeal Scheme, and in references to the assessment centre in that correspondence.

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Notification No. 94/2026 [F. No. 370142/24/2026-TPL] / G.S.R. 646(E) : Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2026 : Amendment of rule 157 of the Income tax Rules, 2026 to align the definition of the specified fund with rule 114AAB of the Income tax Rules, 1962 — Ministry of Finance 21 July 2026
Notification No. 64 — [भाग II—खण् ड 3(i)] भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण 7 16 April 2026
Notification No. 63/2026 [F. No. 370142/13/2026-TPL]/ GSR 268(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(i)] 10 April 2026
Notification No. 62/2026 [F. No. 370142/10/2026-TPL]/ GSR 267(E) — Ministry of Finance 10 April 2026
Notification No. 61/2026 [F. No. 370142/9/2026-TPL] / GSR 266(E) — [भाग II—खण् ड 3(i)] भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण 3 10 April 2026
Notification No. 60/2026 [F. No. 370142/8/2026-TPL]/ GSR 265(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(i)] 10 April 2026

← Notification No. 25/2021 [F. No. 187/3/2020-ITA-I] / SO 1437(E) · Notification No. 27/2021 [F. No. 370142/33/2020-TPL]/ SO 1439(E) →

What a notification is. A notification is made under a power the Act itself gives, and within that power it is law — unlike a circular, which only binds the department. Its reach is the reach of the enabling provision and no wider, and the date it carries decides from when it works.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.

What this is