Reopening beyond three years requires escaped income above the statutory threshold; notice invalid if recorded income is below threshold.

Reopening assessments beyond three years requires the alleged escaped income for the relevant assessment year to exceed the statutory monetary threshold; where the approval records escaped income of Rs. 35,00,000-below the prescribed threshold-the extended limitation under reopening provisions cannot be validly invoked and the notice and consequent assessment are invalidated. The ruling clarifies that absent reliance on any permissible composite or cumulative calculation, a recorded single-year figure below the threshold vitiates jurisdiction to reopen and nullifies the assessment for that year.

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Issues: Whether the notice under Section 148 read with Section 149 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for assessment year 2017-18 was validly issued where the alleged income escaping assessment shown in the notice was Rs. 35,00,000 which is below the threshold of Rs. 50,00,000 for reopening assessments beyond three assessment years.

Analysis: The issue was determined on admitted facts in the notice and the approval proforma. The approval proforma records the escaped income as Rs. 35,00,000 and invokes reopening under Section 149(1)(b) and Section 149(1A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for a period beyond three years but not exceeding ten years. The statutory framework requires that reopening beyond three years is permissible only where the alleged escaped income exceeds the prescribed monetary threshold. The Assessing Officer and the approving authority did not rely on any composite or cumulative calculation across multiple assessment years to justify invocation of the extended limitation; instead the recorded figure for the relevant assessment year falls below the statutory threshold. On these admitted facts, the assumption of jurisdiction for reopening is vitiated.

Conclusion: The notice under Section 148 read with Section 149 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is invalid insofar as the alleged escaped income for AY 2017-18 is Rs. 35,00,000 which is below the Rs. 50,00,000 threshold required to reopen assessments beyond three years; accordingly the assessment order is quashed and the appeal is allowed in favour of the assessee.

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