Income Tax Department Activates New High-Risk Case Reassessment Regime via Insight Portal

The Directorate of Income Tax (Systems) has rolled out a fresh set of internal instructions to deal with high-risk cases flagged under the Board-approved Risk Management Strategy (Cycle-6). These instructions cover potential reassessment cases for Assessment Years 2020-21 to 2024-25, identified through data on the CRIU (Compliance Risk Identification & Utilization) and VRU (Verification and Risk Updation) functionalities and disseminated via the Insight portal.

This internal framework is meant for use by departmental officers, but it has a direct impact on assessees who may receive notices under Section 148 or Section 148A of the Income Tax Act 1961. Understanding the structure, process, and purpose of these instructions helps assessees and consultants anticipate the likely flow of reassessment actions.

1. Background: Risk Management Strategy (Cycle-6) and High-Risk Identification

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has implemented a Risk Management Strategy (Cycle-6) to identify cases where income may have escaped assessment and where action under Section 148/Section 148A is warranted.

Under this cycle:

  • Data available through CRIU and VRU functionalities is processed centrally.
  • Potential high-risk cases are selected for further verification and reassessment.
  • These cases pertain specifically to:
    • AY 2020-21
    • AY 2021-22
    • AY 2022-23
    • AY 2023-24
    • AY 2024-25

The outcome of this exercise is a curated list of high-risk CRIU/VRU cases which are then distributed to field officers through the Insight portal for initiation of proceedings where necessary.

2. Categories of High-Risk Cases on Insight Portal

The cases identified under this strategy have been classified into two broad types for dissemination on the “Verification” module of the Insight portal:

  1. High-Risk CRIU / VRU Information (PAN-based cases)
  2. High-Risk Non-PAN CRIU / VRU Information (Non-PAN cases)

2.1 High-Risk CRIU / VRU Information (PAN-Based)

  • These are PAN-linked high-risk cases identified through CRIU/VRU data analytics.
  • Such cases are directly assigned to the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO).
  • The JAO is expected to examine the underlying data and consider initiation of reassessment-related proceedings under Section 148 or Section 148A.

2.2 High-Risk Non-PAN CRIU / VRU Information

  • These cases are not linked to a PAN, but risk indicators exist based on other identifiers (such as Non PAN Entity Id).
  • These cases are allocated to the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax (Pr.CCIT) (CCA) for further handling.
  • Instructions make it clear that such non-PAN cases must be handled in line with existing Board directions, including Instruction No. F.No.225/40/2021/ITA-II Dated 26.03.2021.

Note: While PAN-based cases allow a more direct route to formal reassessment proceedings via ITBA, non-PAN cases may first require identification, PAN linkage or other preliminary steps as guided by earlier instructions.

3. Accessing High-Risk Cases on the Insight Portal

The Directorate has provided a specific navigation path for officers to access these cases within the Insight environment.

Designated officers must follow the below path on Insight:

  • Insight Portal >> Verification Module >> Verification stage >> “Case type” (Under verification)

Under this section, officers will see the high-risk case categories listed as: