Union Budget 2024-25 (Full) + FINANCE (No.2) Bill, 2024

Section 275 of the Act provides for the period of limitation for imposing penalties. Sub-section (1) of the said section, inter-alia, states that no order imposing a penalty shall be made in a case where the relevant assessment order or other order is the subject-matter of an appeal before the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) or the Commissioner (Appeals) under section 246 or section 246A, respectively, or before the Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) under section 253, after the expiry of the financial year in which the proceedings, in the course of which action for the imposition of penalty has been initiated, are completed, or six months from the end of the month in which the order of the JCIT(A) or the CIT(A) or, as the case may be, the Appellate Tribunal is received by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, whichever period expires later. Similarly, at three other places in the said section, for the purposes of limitation, the date of receipt of order passed by appellate authority is given as, ‘date of receipt of order in the office of Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner’.

2. Suggestions have been received from the field formations that the reference to the office of Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax, Chief Commissioner of Income-tax and Principal Commissioner of Income-tax poses ambiguity for the purposes of calculation of the number of days for imposition of penalties as a consequence of the orders referred to in the said section. Therefore, it is proposed to amend section 275 of the Act to omit the reference to the date of receipt of order by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner.

3. This amendment will take effect from the 1st day of October, 2024.

[Clause 83]

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Full Text:

Union Budget 2024-25 (Full) + FINANCE (No.2) Bill, 2024

Limitation for imposing penalties clarified by removing receipt-by-senior-commissioner reference, simplifying calculation of penalty limitation periods. The provision governing the period of limitation for imposing penalties is amended to omit the reference to receipt of appellate orders by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, removing ambiguity in calculating limitation periods arising from appeals; the amendment takes effect from 1 October 2024.