56[Authentication of notices and other documents.
127A. (1) Every notice or other document communicated in electronic form by an income-tax authority under the Act shall be deemed to be authenticated,—
| (a) | in case of electronic mail or electronic mail message (hereinafter referred to as the e-mail), if the name and office of such income-tax authority— | |
| (i) | is printed on the e-mail body, if the notice or other document is in the e-mail body itself; or | |
| (ii) | is printed on the attachment to the e-mail, if the notice or other document is in the attachment, | |
| and the e-mail is issued from the designated e-mail address of such income-tax authority; | ||
| (b) | in case of an electronic record, if the name and office of the income-tax authority— | |
| (i) | is displayed as a part of the electronic record, if the notice or other document is contained as text or remark in the electronic record itself; or | |
| (ii) | is printed on the attachment in the electronic record, if the notice or other document is in the attachment, |
and such electronic record is displayed on the designated website.
(2) The Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) shall specify the designated e-mail address of the income-tax authority, the designated website and the procedure, formats and standards for ensuring authenticity of the communication.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this rule, the expressions—
| (i) | "electronic mail" and "electronic mail message" shall have the same meanings respectively assigned to them in Explanation to section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); | |
| (ii) | "electronic record" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000).] |