TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (1) TMI 1645
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....sessee filed her return of income on 30.04.2022 declaring income of Rs. 3,66,190/-. The said return filed by the assessee is stated to be not validated. During the course of assessment proceedings, assessee submitted she had received cash from her brother-in-law for the purpose of heart operation. The AO made enquiries u/s.133(6) of the Act from assessee's brother-in-law, who denied having made such payments to the assessee. Hence, the AO added the sum of Rs. 29,30,000/- as unexplained money u/s.69A of the Act along with the amount disclosed of Rs. 3,66,190/- declared by the assessee in the invalid return. 3. Aggrieved by the assessment completed, assessee filed appeal before the First Appellate Authority (FAA). Before the FAA, assessee took the contention that the assessment order is barred by limitation since the notice has been issued u/s.148 of the Act beyond the period of six years i.e., on 01.04.2022. Further, it was submitted that the addition made is only Rs.29,30,000/- hence, the time limit for issuance of notice u/s.148 of the Act is only four years and not six years (which expired on 31.03.2020). Therefore, it was submitted that notice is time barred for this reason a....
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....od for issue of notice by seven days. Therefore the ld. DR submitted that in assessee's case the extended time would apply whereby the AO would get time till 07.04.2022 for issuing notice under section 148 of the Act. In the instant case, since the notice was issued on 01.04.2022, the Ld. DR submitted that the same is not barred by period of limitation. 6. We heard the rival submissions and perused the material on record. In order to find out whether the notice under section 148 is time barred or not, we need to first examine the relevant provisions of the Act and the legal position as per judicial precedence. Section 149(1) of the Act contain the provisions with regard to the time limit for issue of notice under section 148 of the Act. Notice has to judged according to the law existing on the date of notice issued. The relevant provisions applicable when the notice u/s.148 of the Act was issued reads as under (as on 01.04.2022):- 149 - Time limit for notice. (1) No notice under section 148 shall be issued for the relevant assessment year,- (a) if three years have elapsed from the end of the relevant assessment year, unless the case falls under cla....
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....ities, loans and advances, deposits in bank account. (2) The provisions of sub-section (1) as to the issue of notice shall be subject to the provisions of section 151 7. The time limits for issue of notice under section 148 of the Act were amended as above w.e.f. 01.04.2021. Prior to the amendment the relevant provisions of section 149(1) of the Act read as under - 149 - Time limit for notice. (1) No notice under section 148 shall be issued for the relevant assessment year,- (a) if four years have elapsed from the end of the relevant assessment year, unless the case falls under clause (b) or clause (c); (b) if four years, but not more than six years, have elapsed from the end of the relevant assessment year unless the income chargeable to tax which has escaped assessment amounts to or is likely to amount to one lakh rupees or more for that year; (c) **** Explanation.-In determining income chargeable to tax which has escaped assessment for the purposes of this sub-section, the provisions of Explanation 2 of section 147 shall apply as they apply for the purposes of that section. (2) & (3) **** 8. The time l....
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....-2022 and before. Resultantly, a notice under Section 148 of the new regime cannot be issued if the period of six years from the end of the relevant assessment year has expired at the time of issuance of the notice. This also ensures that the new time limit of ten years prescribed under section 149(1)(b) of the new regime applies prospectively. For example, for the assessment year 2012-2013, the ten year period would have expired on 31 March 2023, while the six year period expired on 31 March 2019. Without the proviso to Section 149(1)(b) of the new regime, the Revenue could have had the power to reopen assessments for the year 2012-2013 if the escaped assessment amounted to Rupees fifty lakhs or more. The proviso limits the retrospective operation of Section 149(1)(b) to protect the interests of the assesses. 50. to 52. *** 53. The position of law which can be derived based on the above discussion may be summarized thus: (i) Section 149(1) of the new regime is not prospective. It also applies to past assessment years; (ii) The time limit of four years is now reduced to three years for all situations. The Revenue can issue notices under section 148 of the new regi....