https://www.taxtmi.com/circulars?id=9175 Before initiating penalty proceedings the Income tax Officer must enquire whether the assessee was prevented by reasonable cause, accept genuine written explanations without initiating proceedings and record reasons for non initiation. Opportunity to be heard is mandatory; penalty proceedings should ordinarily be completed soon after assessment, typically within six months, and orders levying penalties must be speaking orders supported by adequate reasoning. Penalty registers, progress reports and a prosecution scrutiny column must be maintained. These measures aim to reduce routine, infructuous penalty actions and ensure timely, reasoned disposal. en-us Fri, 31 Mar 1978 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:52:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/circulars?id=9175 Before initiating penalty proceedings the Income tax Officer must enquire whether the assessee was prevented by reasonable cause, accept genuine written explanations without initiating proceedings and record reasons for non initiation. Opportunity to be heard is mandatory; penalty proceedings should ordinarily be completed soon after assessment, typically within six months, and orders levying penalties must be speaking orders supported by adequate reasoning. Penalty registers, progress reports and a prosecution scrutiny column must be maintained. These measures aim to reduce routine, infructuous penalty actions and ensure timely, reasoned disposal. Circulars Income Tax Fri, 31 Mar 1978 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/circulars?id=9175