Amendment of section 272A.
103. In section 272A of the Income-tax Act, with effect from the 1st day of April, 2017,-
(i) in sub-section (1),-
(a) in clause (c), for the words “place or time,”, the words “place or time; or” shall be substituted;
(b) after clause (c) and before the long line , the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-
“(d) fails to comply with a notice under sub-section (1) of section 142 or sub-section (2) of section 143 or fails to comply with a direction issued under sub-section (2A) of section 142,”;
(ii) in sub-section (3), after clause (a), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-
“(aa) in a case falling under clause (d) of sub-section (1), by the income-tax authority who had issued the notice or direction referred to therein;”.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 103 of the Bill seeks to amend section 272A of the Income-tax Act relating to penalty for failure to answer questions, sign statements, furnish information, returns or statements, allow inspections, etc.
Sub-section (1) of the said section provides for levy of penalty of ten thousand rupees for each failure or default to answer the questions raised by an income-tax authority under the Income-tax Act, refusal to sign any statement legally required during the proceedings under the Income-tax Act or failure to attend to give evidence or produce books or documents as required under subsection (1) of section 131 of the Income-tax Act.
It is proposed to insert a new clause (d) in the said sub-section so as to include levy of penalty of ten thousand rupees for each default or failure to comply with a notice issued under sub-section (1) of section 142 or sub-section (2) of section 143 or failure to comply with a direction issued under sub-section (2A) of section 142.
It is also proposed to amend sub-section (3) of the aforesaid section to provide that penalty under clause (d) of sub-section (1) shall be imposed by the Income-tax authority issuing such notice or direction.
This amendment will take effect from 1st April, 2017 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2017-2018 and subsequent years.
