Insertion of new section 241A.
76. After section 241 of the Income-tax Act [as it stood immediately before its omission by section 81 of the Finance Act, 2001 (14 of 2001)], the following section shall be inserted, namely:-
Withholding of refund in certain cases.
“241A. For every assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 2017, where refund of any amount becomes due to the assessee under the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 143 and the Assessing Officer is of the opinion, having regard to the fact that a notice has been issued under sub-section (2) of section 143 in respect of such return, that the grant of the refund is likely to adversely affect the revenue, he may, for reasons to be recorded in writing and with the previous approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, as the case may be, withhold the refund up to the date on which the assessment is made.”.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 76 of the Bill seeks to insert a new section 241A in the Income-tax Act relating to withholding of refund in certain cases.
It is proposed to provide that, for every assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 2017, where refund of any amount becomes due to the assessee under the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 143 and the Assessing Officer is of the opinion that grant of the refund may adversely affect the recovery of revenue, he may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing and with the previous approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, withhold the refund up to the date on which the assessment is made.
This amendment will take effect from 1st April, 2017 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2017-2018 and subsequent years.