Amendment of section 149.
70. In section 149 of the Income-tax Act, in sub-section (1),–
(I) after the second proviso, the following provisos shall be inserted, namely:––
“Provided also that for cases referred to in clauses (i), (iii) and (iv) of Explanation 2 to section 148, where,––
(a) a search is initiated under section 132; or
(b) a search under section 132 for which the last of authorisations is executed; or
(c) requisition is made under section 132A,
after the 15th day of March of any financial year and the period for issue of notice under section 148 expires on the 31st day of March of such financial year, a period of fifteen days shall be excluded for the purpose of computing the period of limitation as per this section and the notice issued under section 148 in such case shall be deemed to have been issued on the 31st day of March of such financial year:
Provided also that where the information as referred to in Explanation 1 to section 148 emanates from a statement recorded or documents impounded under section 131 or section 133A, as the case may be, on or before the 31st day of March of a financial year, in consequence of,––
(a) a search under section 132 which is initiated; or
(b) a search under section 132 for which the last of authorisations is executed; or
(c) a requisition made under section 132A,
after the 15th day of March of such financial year, a period of fifteen days shall be excluded for the purpose of computing the period of limitation as per this section and the notice issued under clause (b) of section 148A in such case shall be deemed to have been issued on the 31st day of March of such financial year:”;
(II) in the sixth proviso, for the words “less than seven days”, the words “does not exceed seven days” shall be substituted.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 70 of the Bill seeks to amend section 149 of the Income-tax Act relating to time limit for notice.
It is proposed to amend sub-section (1) of the said section to insert the provisos after the second proviso to provide that for cases referred to in clause (i), (iii) and (iv) of the Explanation 2 to section 148 where a search is initiated under section 132 or a search under section 132 for which the last of the authorisations is executed or requisition is made under section 132A, after the 15th March of any financial year and the period for issue of notice under section 148 expires on 31st March of such financial year, a period of fifteen days shall be excluded for the purpose of computing the period of limitation as per this section and the notice issued under section 148 in such case shall be deemed to have been issued on the 31st March of such financial year.
The proposed fourth proviso provides that where the information as referred to in Explanation 1 to section 148 emanates from a statement recorded or documents impounded under section 131 or section 133A, as the case may be, on or before the 31st March of a financial year, in consequence of, a search under section 132 which is initiated or a search under section 132 for which the last of the authorisations is executed or a requisition is made under section 132A, after the 15th March of such financial year, a period of fifteen days shall be excluded for the purpose of computing the period of limitation as per this section and the notice issued under clause (b) of section 148A in such case shall be deemed to have been issued on the 31st March of such financial year.
It is also proposed to amend the sixth proviso in the said sub-section to provide that where immediately after the exclusion of the period referred to in the fifth proviso, the period of limitation available to the Assessing Officer for passing an order under clause (d) of section 148A does not exceed seven days, such remaining period shall be extended to seven days and the period of limitation under this sub-section shall be deemed to be extended accordingly.
These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2023.
