AST full form in income tax
In the context of the Indian Income Tax Department, AST refers to the Assessment Software Tool, a system used by assessing officers to process tax returns and handle assessment-related tasks. It is a critical component of the Income Tax Department’s operational framework.
How AST is used
Processing returns: Assessing officers use the AST to process tax returns that require manual scrutiny, especially those not finalized by the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC).
- Case transfer: If a return is transferred from the CPC to a jurisdictional assessing officer (AO), the AST is the system that facilitates this transfer and enables the AO to take action. This happens for returns selected for scrutiny through the CASS (Computer-Assisted Scrutiny Selection) process.
- Issuing notices: The AST is also used to generate and issue various notices to taxpayers, such as those related to ex-parte assessments under Section 144.
- Handling rectifications: For rectification requests that are not handled by the CPC, the “rectification rights” are transferred to the AST, allowing the assessing officer to process them.