Union Budget 2026 comes at a critical juncture for India's tax administration. With the Income-tax Act, 2025 (the "New Act") set to kick in soon, this Budget might be the last real chance to recalibrate the Faceless Assessment Scheme before it gets locked into the new legal setup. The faceless assessment reform, which stems from the Prime Minister's 2017 vision shared at Rajasva Gyaan Sangam, was conceived to enhance transparency, reduce discretion, and eliminate physical interface between taxpayers and tax officers. Section 144B of the Income-tax Act, 1961, introduced with effect from April 1, 2021, institutionalised this vision through a multi-unit, technology-driven mechanism. The same architecture is now carried forward almost unchanged in Section 273 of the New Income-tax Act.