Assess [fr. assessum, Lat., setting a tax], to rate or ascertain.
The expression 'assess' refers to a situation where the assessment of the assessee for a particular year is, for the first time made by resorting to the provisions of s. 147 because the assessment had not been made in the regular manner under the Act, CIT v. Sun Engineing Works Ltd, AIR 1993 SC 43 (50): (1992) 4 SCC 363. (Income-tax Act, 1961, s. 147)
'Assess' is a comprehensive word, and in a taxing statute it often means the computation of the income of the assessee, the determination of the tax payable by him, and the procedure for collecting or recovering the tax. In a case where there is a dispute about the identity of the assessee, the order of assessment serves the purpose of establishing that identity and naming the person from whom the tax has to be recovered, Bhopal Sugar Industries Ltd. v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1979 SC 537 (540).