Invalid treaty-based information request cannot extend assessment limitation where the amended DTAA did not cover earlier years.

Exclusion of the assessment time limit was available only if the Revenue's request for exchange of information was made under the operative treaty framework in the Indo-Swiss DTAA. Because the amended protocol governed exchange of information only for fiscal years beginning on or after 01.04.2011, a request relating to earlier years fell outside its temporal scope. In the absence of any saving clause preserving the deleted provision, that request was not a valid treaty reference and could not extend the limitation period for completion of assessment. The limitation exclusion was therefore unavailable to the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether the period of one year could be excluded under the limitation provision for completion of assessment where the Revenue's request for exchange of information under the Indo-Swiss DTAA related to years prior to 01.04.2011, and whether such a request was a valid reference made in terms of the treaty so as to extend the time limit for assessment.

Analysis: The exclusion under the limitation provision applies only where the reference for exchange of information is made in terms of an agreement referred to in Section 90 or Section 90A of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The amended Indo-Swiss DTAA governed exchange of information only for fiscal years beginning on or after 01.04.2011. The earlier exchange-of-information provision stood deleted and replaced by the Amending Protocol, and no saving clause preserved the earlier provision for pre-01.04.2011 years. Since the request related to a period outside the temporal scope of the amended treaty, it was not a valid treaty reference and could not trigger the exclusion of time.

Conclusion: The reference was invalid and the Revenue was not entitled to exclusion of time under the limitation provision. The issue is answered against the Revenue and in favour of the Assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Exclusion of time for assessment on account of foreign information exchange is available only when the reference is made validly under the operative treaty provision; an invalid or time-barred treaty reference does not extend limitation.

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