Amendment in section 245MA of the Act related to Dispute Resolution Committee

Finance Act, 2021 introduced a new chapter XIX-AA in the Act consisting of section 245MA for constituting Dispute Resolution Committee (“DRC”) for specified persons who may opt for dispute resolution under the said section and who fulfil specified conditions mentioned in the said section.

2. After the resolution of the dispute by the DRC the assessed income of the person who had applied to DRC has to be determined, which will be followed by, inter alia, initiation of penalty proceedings, if any and issuance of demand notice under section 156 of the Act. However, the existing provisions of the said section do not contain any provision which will enable the Assessing Officer to pass an order giving effect to the order or directions of the Dispute Resolution Committee under the said section.

3. Therefore, it is proposed to insert a new sub-section to this section to enable the Assessing Officer to pass an order giving effect to the resolution of dispute by the DRC. However, since DRC is an alternate dispute resolution mechanism itself, a taxpayer may opt for approaching either the Dispute Resolution Panel under section 144C of the Act or the DRC under section 245MA of the Act, and the AO shall pass the final order in conformity with the order by the DRC even in the case of an eligible assessee.

This amendment will take effect from 1st April, 2022.

[Clause 67]

 

 

 

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Full Text:

Budget 2022-23 + FINANCE Bill, 2022

Dispute Resolution Committee decisions: Assessing Officer must give effect to DRC resolutions while preserving taxpayer choice of forum. The amendment enables the Assessing Officer to pass a final order giving effect to the Dispute Resolution Committee's resolution: after the DRC determines assessed income the AO must implement the DRC's directions, which may include initiation of penalty proceedings and issuance of a demand notice; a taxpayer may opt for the DRC instead of the alternate dispute resolution panel and the AO's final order shall conform to the DRC resolution.