Section 260 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 — Faceless Collection of Information

In plain language

What Section 260 actually says

Section 260 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 is the enabling provision that lets the Central Government roll out a faceless (contact-less) system for collecting and calling for information from taxpayers and third parties. Instead of a taxpayer or a bank being summoned in person by a specific officer, the entire information-gathering process is run electronically through a central, computer-allocated system where the taxpayer usually never meets the officer handling the file.

It is the 2025 Act's re-write of Section 135A of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The core idea is unchanged, but the drafting has been modernised and the powers it covers are listed more precisely.

Which powers become "faceless" under this section

Section 260 empowers the Government to notify a scheme that makes the following actions faceless:

• Calling for information — the general power (linked to Section 252) that lets the department ask you or others for statements, accounts and details.
• Collecting certain information — an information-collection power (linked to Section 254).
• Calling for information by a prescribed authority — a power exercised by a designated income-tax authority (linked to Section 259).
• Power to inspect the register of companies (linked to Section 255) — inspecting company/registrar records held with the MCA.
• Exercise of the Assessing Officer's power in this area (linked to Section 256).

The three objectives written into the law

The section states the scheme must be designed to bring in 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" — i.e. no face-to-face contact where the system can handle it electronically.
• Optimising resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation — work is centralised and split into specialised units.
• Team-based exercise of power with dynamic jurisdiction — a team, not one named officer, handles the request, and cases are allotted by the system on a rotating basis to reduce bias and rent-seeking.

Two more sub-sections you should know

• Power to modify the Act: The Government may, by notification, direct that certain provisions of the Act "shall not apply, or shall apply with exceptions, modifications and adaptations" so that the faceless machinery can actually function. This is a limited, mechanism-only power — it does not change your substantive tax liability.
• Parliamentary oversight: Every notification issued under this section must be laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as it is issued. This keeps the executive's scheme-making power under legislative check.

Who it applies to

It applies to every category of person — individuals, HUFs, firms, companies, banks and other third parties who may be asked to furnish information. You do not "opt in": if the Government notifies a scheme, the faceless route becomes the default channel for the covered powers.

Practical implications for taxpayers

• Notices, information requests and your replies flow through the e-filing portal / registered email, not a physical ward office.
• You will generally not know the individual officer; you deal with a designated unit.
• Keep records ready and reply within the portal timelines — since everything is electronic and time-stamped, missed deadlines are harder to explain.
• Faceless collection of information is distinct from faceless assessment (Section 273 of the 2025 Act) and faceless appeals; Section 260 is only about the information-gathering stage.

Note on timelines

Under the old Section 135A, the enabling scheme had to be notified by a cut-off date (31 March 2022 in the 1961 Act). The 2025 Act carries the enabling power forward; taxpayers should rely on the specific dates in the actual notification issued under Section 260 rather than assume the old deadline still applies.