Amendment of section 139.
32. In section 139 of the Income-tax Act,––
(a) in sub-section (1), in Explanation 2,––
(i) in clause (a), in sub-clause (iii), after the words “any other law for the time being in force”, the words, figure and letter “or the spouse of such partner if the provisions of section 5A applies to such spouse” shall be inserted;
(ii) in clause (aa), after the words “an assessee”, the words “, including the partners of the firm being such assessee,” shall be inserted;
(b) in sub-section (4), for the words “return for any previous year at any time before”, the words “a return for any previous year at any time within three months prior to” shall be substituted;
(c) in sub-section (5), for the words “he may furnish a revised return at any time”, the words “he may furnish a revised return at any time within three months” shall be substituted;
(d) in sub-section (9), in the Explanation, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:––
“Provided that the Board may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify that any of the conditions specified in clauses (a) to (f) to the Explanation shall not apply to such class of assessees or shall apply with such modifications, as may be specified in such notification.”.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 32 of the Bill seeks to amend the section 139 of the Income-tax Act relating to return of income.
The said section provides for the filing of return of income for different persons or class of persons and time-limits for doing so.
It is proposed to amend sub-clause (iii), in clause (a), in Explanation 2, in sub-section (1) of the said section so as to provide that the due date for filing return of income for the spouse of the partner of a firm, if the governed by the provisions of section 5A of the said Act, shall be 31st October of the assessment year.
It is further proposed to amend clause (aa) of the said Explanation so as to provide that the due date for filing of return of income for partners of a firm, which is required to furnish report referred to in section 92E, shall be 30th November of the assessment year.
It is also proposed to amend sub-section (4) of the said section so as to provide that any person who has not furnished a return of income within the due date as per sub-section (1) of the said section may furnish a return for any previous year at any time within three months prior to the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of the assessment, whichever is earlier.
It is also proposed to amend sub-section (5) of the said section so as to provide that a return of income filed under sub-sections (1) or (4) can be revised at any time within three months prior to the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of the assessment, whichever is earlier.
It is also proposed to insert proviso before the Explanation to sub-section (9) of the said section so as to provide that the Board may specify, by notification, that any of the conditions specified in clauses (a) to (f) of the said Explanation shall not apply to such class of assessees or shall apply with such modifications, as may be specified in such notification.
These amendments will take effect from lst April, 2021 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2021-2022 and subsequent assessment years.
