Amendment of section 153.
63. In section 153 of the Income-tax Act,—
(A) with effect from the 1st day of July, 2012,—
(i) in sub-section (1),—
(a) in the first proviso, for the words, figures and letters “on the 1st day of April, 2004 or any subsequent assessment year”, the words, figures and letters “on or after the 1st day of April, 2004 but before the 1st day of April, 2010” shall be substituted;
(b) in the second proviso, for the words, figures and letters “on the 1st day of April, 2005 or any subsequent assessment year”, the words, figures and letters “on or after the 1st day of April, 2005 but before the 1st day of April, 2009” shall be substituted;
(c) after the second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—
‘Provided also that in case the assessment year in which the income was first assessable is the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 2009 or any subsequent assessment year and during the course of the proceeding for the assessment of total income, a reference under sub-section (1) of section 92CA—
(i) is made before the 1st day of July, 2012, but an order under sub-section (3) of that section has not been made before such date; or
(ii) is made on or after the 1st day of July, 2012, the provisions of clause (a) shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the first proviso, have effect as if for the words “two years”, the words “three years” had been substituted;’;
(ii) in sub-section (2),—
(a) in the second proviso, after the words, figures and letters “on or after the 1st day of April, 2005”, the words, figures and letters “but before the 1st day of April, 2011” shall be inserted;
(b) in the third proviso, after the words, figures and letters “the 1st day of April, 2006”, the words, figures and letters “but before the 1st day of April, 2010” shall be inserted;
(c) after the third proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—
‘Provided also that where the notice under section 148 was served on or after the 1st day of April, 2010 and during the course of the proceedings for the assessment or reassessment or recomputation of total income, a reference under sub-section (1) of section 92CA—
(i) is made before the 1st day of July, 2012, but an order under sub-section (3) of that section has not been made before such date; or
(ii) is made on or after the 1st day of July, 2012, the provisions of this sub-section shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the second proviso, have effect as if for the words “one year”, the words “two years” had been substituted;’;
(iii) in sub-section (2A),—
(a) in the second proviso, after the words, figures and letters “the 1st day of April, 2005”, the words, figures and letters “but before the 1st day of April, 2011” shall be inserted;
(b) in the third proviso, after the words, figures and letters “the 1st day of April, 2006”, the words, figures and letters “but before the 1st day of April, 2010” shall be inserted;
(c) after the third proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—
‘Provided also that where the order under section 254 is received by the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner or, as the case may be, the order under section 263 or section 264 is passed by the Commissioner on or after the 1st day of April, 2010, and during the course of the proceedings for the fresh assessment of total income, a reference under sub-section (1) of section 92CA—
(i) is made before the 1st day of July, 2012, but an order under sub-section (3) of section 92CA has not been made before such date; or
(ii) is made on or after the 1st day of July, 2012, the provisions of this sub-section shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the second proviso, have effect as if for the words “one year”, the words “two years” had been substituted;’;
(B) in Explanation 1,—
(a) in clause (viii), for the words “six months”, the words “one year” shall be substituted with effect from the 1st day of July, 2012;
(b) after clause (viii) and before the words “shall be excluded”, the following clause shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2013, namely:—
v“(ix) the period commencing from the date on which a reference for declaration of an arrangement to be impermissible avoidance arrangement is received by the Commissioner under sub-section
(1) of section 144BA and ending on the date on which a direction under sub-section (3) or sub-section (6) or an order under sub-section (5) of the said section is received by the Assessing Officer,”.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 63 of the Bill seeks to amend section 153 of the Income-tax Act relating to time limit for completion of assessments and reassessments.
The existing provisions of the aforesaid section 153, inter alia, provide for time limit for completion of assessments and reassessments of total income by the Assessing Officer.
It is proposed to amend the aforesaid section so as to revise the time limits wherever specified for completion of assessments and reassessments. The revised time limits shall be the time limits specified under the aforesaid section, as respectively increased by three months.
The existing provisions contained in Explanation 1 to the aforesaid section 153 provide that certain periods specified therein are to be excluded while computing the period of limitation laid down in the said section for completion of assessments and reassessments.
It is proposed to amend clause (viii) of the aforesaid Explanation so as to extend the period specified therein from six months to one year.
These amendments will take effect from 1st July, 2012.
It is proposed to insert a new clause (ix) in Explanation 1 of the aforesaid section 153 so as to provide for exclusion of time period starting from receipt of reference by the Commissioner under sub-section (1) of newly inserted section 144BA and ending on date on which a direction under sub-section (3) or sub-section (6) or an order under sub-section (5) of newly inserted section144BA is received by the Assessing Officer.
This amendment will take effect from 1st April, 2013 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2013-2014 and subsequent assessment years.
