Amendment of section 277.
103. In section 277 of the Income-tax Act, with effect from the 1st day of July, 2012,––
(a) in clause (i), for the words “one hundred thousand rupees”, the words “twenty-five hundred thousand rupees” shall be substituted;
(b) in clause (ii), for the words “three years”, the words “two years” shall be substituted.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 103 of the Bill seeks to amend section 277 of the Income-tax Act relating to false statement in verification, etc.
The existing provisions of the aforesaid section 277 provide that if a person makes a statement in any verification under the Act or under any rule made thereunder, or delivers an account or statement which is false, and which he either knows or believes to be false, or does not believe to be true, he shall be punishable in a case where the amount of tax which would have been evaded if the statement or account had been accepted as true, exceeds one hundred thousand rupees, with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to seven years and with fine; and in any other case, with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three months but which may extend to three years and with fine.
It is proposed to amend the aforesaid section so as to increase the limit of amount of tax which would have been evaded from one hundred thousand rupees to twenty-five hundred thousand rupees and to reduce the maximum imprisonment from three years to two years.
These amendments will take effect from 1st July, 2012.
