Amendment of section 142
33. In section 142 of the Income-tax Act, in sub-section (2A), for the words “the nature and complexity of the accounts of the assessee and”, the words “the nature and complexity of the accounts, volume of the accounts, doubts about the correctness of the accounts, multiplicity of transactions in the accounts or specialised nature of business activity of the assessee, and’’ shall be substituted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2013.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 33 of the Bill seeks to amend section 142 of the Incometax Act relating to inquiry before assessment.
The existing provisions contained in sub-section (2A) of section 142 of the Act, inter alia, provides that if at any stage of the proceedings before him, the Assessing Officer, having regard to the nature and complexity of the accounts of the assessee and the interests of the revenue, is of the opinion that it is necessary to do so, he may, with the previous approval of the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner, direct the assessee to get his accounts audited by an accountant and to furnish a report of such audit.
It is proposed to amend the aforesaid sub-section so as to provide that if at any stage of the proceeding before him, the Assessing Officer, having regard to the nature and complexity of the accounts, volume of the accounts, doubts about the correctness of the accounts, multiplicity of transactions in the accounts or specialised nature of business activity of the assessee, and the interests of the revenue, is of the opinion that it is necessary to do so, he may, with the previous approval of the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner, direct the assessee to get his accounts audited by an accountant and to furnish a report of such audit.
This amendment will take effect from 1st June, 2013.
