Seizure of jewellery during search and seizure operation. - Income Tax - F.No. 286/5/86-IT(lnv.)-II

F.No. 286/5/86-IT(lnv.)-II Government of India Ministry of Finance Central Board of Direct Taxes I.T.(Inv.)-II New Delhi, the 16th January, 1986, To 1. All Chief Commissioners of Income-tax (Adm.) 2. All Commissioners of Income-tax (including Central charges) 3. Directors of Inspection (Investigation), New Delhi. Sir, Sub : Seizure of jewellery during search and seizure operation. In supersession of all previous Instructions on the above subject the following guidelines are hereby issued to enable the search parties to exercise their discretion in the seizure of jewellery during search operations. The Authorized officers must apply their mind and restrict the seizure of jewellery and ornaments to only those assets which have not been disclosed or, in their judgement, would not be disclosed or are not accounted for. Items of jewellery, particularly those owned by the female members of the family should not be seized to the extent they are found reasonable. In judging whether the extent of jewellery is reasonable or not, some of the considerations which will apply are : (i) The status of the family concerned; (ii) The custom of the community: (iii) The number of female members in the family and the time of marriage of the female member concerned. Each case will have to be judged on its own merits. 2. Where the assessee is assessed to wealth-tax, the jewellery found should be compared with that disclosed to the Department and only the excess should be considered for seizure. Items of jewellery which do not tally in weight and description with the details furnished to the Department should normally be seized. 3. However, where only the gross weight of the jewellery has been declared, jewellery found should not be seized if its-gross weight approximately tallies with the weight declared to the Department. In such cases each item of the jewellery should be noted in the inventory along with its individual weight. 4. The quantum limits fixed vide Board s F.No. 286/26/82-IT (Inv. III) dated 23rd November, 1982 in Instruction No. 1497 and Board s letter F. No. 286/158/84-IT (Inv.Il) dated 4.12.1984 are hereby withdrawn. 5. These Instructions may kindly be brought to the notice of all concerned. Yours faithfully, (Brijesh Gupta) Under Secretary to the Govt. of India Central Board of Direct Taxes