Amendment of section 139.
56. In section 139 of the Income-tax Act, in sub-section (1),—
(a) after the third proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—
“Provided also that a person, being a resident, who is not required to furnish a return under this sub-section and who during the previous year has any asset (including any financial interest in any entity) located outside India or signing authority in any account located outside India, shall furnish, on or before the due date, a return in respect of his income or loss for the previous year in such form and verified in such manner and setting forth such other particulars as may be prescribed.”.
(b) in Explanation 2,—
(i) in clause (a),—
(A) after the words “the assessee”, the words, brackets and letters “other than an assessee referred to in clause (aa)” shall be inserted;
(B) in sub-clause (i), the words, brackets and letters “other than a company referred to in clause (aa)” shall be omitted;
(ii) in clause (aa), for the words “being a company, which”, the word “who” shall be substituted.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 56 of the Bill seeks to amend section 139 of the Income-tax Act relating to return of income.
The existing provisions of sub-section (1) of the aforesaid section 139 provide that every person, if his total income or the total income of any other person in respect of which he is assessable under the Income-tax Act during the previous year exceeded the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax, shall, on or before the due date, furnish a return of his income or the income of such other person during the previous year in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner and setting forth such other particulars as may be prescribed.
It is proposed to amend the aforesaid sub-section by inserting a proviso after the third proviso so as to provide that a person, being a resident, who is not required to furnish a return under this sub-section and who during the previous year has any asset (including any financial interest in any entity) located outside India or signing authority in any account located outside India, shall furnish, on or before the due date, a return in respect of his income or loss for the previous year in such form and verified in such manner and setting forth such other particulars as may be prescribed.
The existing provisions of clause (a) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of the aforesaid section 139 provides the due date for filing return of income, in the case of company other than a company referred to in clause (aa); or a person “other than a company” whose accounts are required to be audited under the Income-tax Act or under any other law for the time being in force; or a working partner of a firm whose accounts are required to be audited under the Income-tax Act or under any other law for time being in force shall be the 30th day of September of the assessment year.
Clause (aa) of the aforesaid Explanation provides that in the case of assessee which is a company, which is required to furnish a report from an accountant by persons entering into international transaction under section 92E, the due date for filing return of income shall be the 30th day of November of the assessment year.
It is proposed to amend the aforesaid clauses (a) and (aa) so as to extend the due date for filing return of income in case of all the persons who are required to furnish a report referred to section 92E.
These amendments will take effect retrospectively from 1st April, 2012 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2012-2013 and subsequent assessment years.
