Limitation under section 149(1) barred the reassessment notice for Assessment Year 2015-16, leading to quashing of proceedings.

For Assessment Year 2015-16, a section 148 notice issued in July 2022 was held to be barred by limitation under section 149(1). The Tribunal applied the Supreme Court ruling in Rajeev Bansal and the Delhi High Court view in Makemytrip India Pvt. Ltd. to hold that notices issued on or after 1 April 2021 could not survive for that year. The reassessment proceedings were therefore unsustainable, and the section 148 notice was quashed rather than merely set aside.

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Issues: Whether the notice issued under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for Assessment Year 2015-16 was barred by limitation under section 149(1) and, if so, whether the reassessment order deserved to be quashed instead of being merely set aside.

Analysis: The reassessment was initiated for Assessment Year 2015-16 on the basis of a notice under section 148 issued on 27.07.2022/28.07.2022, after an earlier notice dated 30.06.2021 had been treated as a notice under section 148A(b). Relying on the Supreme Court's ruling in Rajeev Bansal and the Delhi High Court's view in Makemytrip India Pvt. Ltd., the Tribunal held that for Assessment Year 2015-16 notices issued on or after 1 April 2021 could not survive in view of the limitation under section 149(1).

Conclusion: The notice under section 148 was held to be time-barred and was quashed. The reassessment proceedings could not be sustained, and the assessee succeeded.

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