Amendment of section 153
37. In section 153 of the Income-tax Act, in Explanation 1,––
(a) for clause (iii), the following clause shall be substituted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2013, namely:––
“(iii) the period commencing from the date on which the Assessing Officer directs the assesse to get his accounts audited under sub-section (2A) of section 142 and––
(a) ending with the last date on which the assessee is required to furnish a report of such audit under that sub-section; or
(b) where such direction is challenged before a court, ending with the date on which the order setting aside such direction is received by the Commissioner,or”;
(b) for clause (viii), the following clause shall be substituted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2013, namely:––
“(viii) the period commencing from the date on which a reference or first of the references for exchange of information is made by an authority competent under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A and ending with the date on which the information requested is last
received by the Commissioner or a period of one year, whichever is less,”;
(c) clause (ix) shall be omitted;
(d) in clause (viii), at the end, the word ‘‘or’’ and after clause (viii), the following clause shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2016, namely:—
“(ix) the period commencing from the date on which a reference for declaration of an arrangement to be an 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 subsection (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 37 of the Bill seeks to amend section 153 of the Incometax Act relating to time limit for completion of assessments and reassessments.
The existing provisions contained in Explanation 1 to the aforesaid section provide that certain periods specified therein are to be excluded while computing the period of limitation for the purposes of the said section.
It is proposed to substitute clause (iii) in the aforesaid Explanation 1 so as to provide that the period, commencing from the date on which the Assessing Officer directs the assessee to get his accounts audited under sub-section (2A) of section 142 and ending with the last date on which the assessee is required to furnish a report of such audit under that sub-section or where such direction is challenged before a court, ending with the date on which the order setting aside such direction is received by the Commissioner, shall be excluded in computing the period of limitation for the purposes of section 153.
The existing provisions contained in clause (viii) of Explanation 1 to section 153 provides for exclusion of the period, commencing from the date on which a reference for exchange of information is made by an authority competent under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A and ending with the date on which the information so requested is received by the Commissioner or a period of one year, whichever is less, in computing the period of limitation for the purposes of section 153.
It is proposed to substitute the aforesaid clause so as to provide that the period, commencing from the date on which a reference or first of the references for exchange of information is made by an authority competent under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A and ending with the date on which the information requested is last received by the Commissioner or a period of one year, whichever is less, shall be excluded in computing the period of limitation for the purposes of section 153.
These amendments will take effect from 1st June, 2013.
It is further proposed to omit clause (ix) in Explanation 1 of sub-section (4) of the said section.
This amendment will take effect retrospectively from 1st April, 2013.
It is also proposed to insert clause (ix) in Explanation 1 of subsection (4) of the aforesaid section so as to provide for exclusion of time period starting from receipt of reference by the Commissioner under sub-section (1) of newly inserted 144BA and ending on date on which a direction under sub-section (3) or subsection (6) or an order under sub-section (5) of newly inserted section 144BA is received by the Assessing Officer.
This amendment will take effect from 1st April, 2016.
