Amendment of section 153B
38. In section 153B of the Income-tax Act, in the Explanation,––
(a) for clause (ii), the following clause shall be substituted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2013, namely:––
“(ii) 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 38 of the Bill seeks to amend section 153B of the Income-tax Act relating to time limit for completion of assessment under section 153A.
The existing provisions contained in Explanation to section 153B 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 assessment under section 153A.
It is proposed to substitute clause (ii) in the aforesaid Explanation 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 to section 153B 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 153B.
It is proposed to amend 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 153B.
These amendments will take effect from 1st June, 2013. It is further proposed to omit clause (ix) in Explanation 1 of the 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 sub-section (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 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 section 144BA is received by the Assessing Officer.
This amendment will take effect from 1st April, 2016.
