Section 68 - Amendment of section 18 - Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1989

68. Amendment of section 18. In section 18 of the Wealth-tax Act [as it stood immediately before its substitution by section 142 of the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987 (4 of 1988)],- (a) in sub-section (1),- (i) clause (a) shall be omitted; (ii) clause (i) shall be omitted; (iii) for clause (ii), the following clause shall be substituted, namely :- (ii) in the cases referred to in clause (b), in addition to the amount of wealth-tax payable by him, a sum which shall not be less than one thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty-five thousand rupees for each such failure; ; (iv) for the proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely :- Provided that in the cases referred to in clause (b), no penalty shall be imposable if the person proves that there was a reasonable cause for the failure referred to in that clause. ; (v) for Explanation 3, the following Explanation shall be substituted, namely :- Explanation 3 .- Where any person who has not previously been assessed under this Act, fails, without reasonable cause, to furnish within the period specified in sub-section (1) of section 17A, a return of his net wealth which he is required to furnish under section 14 in respect of any assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 1989, and until the expiry of the period aforesaid, no notice has been issued to him under clause (i) of sub-section (4) of section 16 or sub-section (1) of section 17 and the Assessing Officer or the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) or the Commissioner (Appeals) is satisfied that in respect of such assessment year such person has assessable net wealth, then, such person shall, for the purposes of clause (c) of this sub-section, be deemed to have concealed the particulars of his assets or furnished inaccurate particulars of any assets or debts in respect of such assessment year, notwithstanding that such person furnishes a return of his net wealth at any time after the expiry of either of the periods aforesaid applicable to him in pursuance of a notice under section 17. ; (vi) after Explanation 5, the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely :- Explanation 6 .- Where any adjustment is made in the wealth declared in the return under the proviso to clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 16 and additional wealth-tax charged under that section, the provisions of this sub-section shall not apply in relation to the adjustments so made. ; (b) for sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely :- (3) No order imposing a penalty under sub-section (1) shall be made - (i) by the Income-tax Officer, where the penalty exceeds ten thousand rupees; (ii) by the Assistant Commissioner, where the penalty exceeds twenty thousand rupees, except with the prior approval of the Deputy Commissioner. ; (c) sub-section (3A) shall be omitted; (d) for sub-section (5), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely :- (5) No order imposing a penalty under this section shall be passed- (i) in a case where the assessment to which the proceedings for imposition of penalty relate is the subject-matter of an appeal to the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) or the Commissioner (Appeals) under section 23 or an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (2) of section 24, after the expiry of the financial year in which the proceedings, in the course of which action for the imposition of penalty has been initiated, are completed, or six months from the end of the month in which the order of the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) or the Commissioner (Appeals) or, as the case may be, the Appellate Tribunal is received by the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner, whichever is later; (ii) in a case where the relevant assessment is the subject-matter of revision under sub-section (2) of section 25, after the expiry of six months from the end of the month in which such order of revision is passed; (iii) in any other case, after the expiry of the financial year in which the proceedings, in the course of which action for the imposition of penalty has been initiated, are completed, or six months from the end of the month in which action for imposition of penalty is initiated, whichever period expires later. Explanation .- In computing the period of limitation for the purposes of this section,- (i) any period during which the immunity granted under section 22H remained in force; (ii) the time taken in giving an opportunity to the assessee to be reheard under the proviso to section 39; and (iii) any period during which a proceeding under this section for the levy of penalty is stayed by an order or injunction of any court, shall be excluded. (6) The provisions of this section as they stood immediately before their amendment by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1989 shall apply to and in relation to any assessment for the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1988, or any earlier assessment year and references in this section to the other provisions of this Act shall be construed as references to those provisions as for the time being in force and applicable to the relevant assessment year. .