The Finance Act, 2017 has amended section 153A of the Income-tax Act to empower an assessing officer to issue notice to an assessee beyond 6 assessment years but not beyond ten assessment years. CA Rohit Kapoor has dealt with the important question whether the extended period of limitation for reopening assessment could be resorted to for reopening proceedings which were already barred by limitation on the date of the amendment made by the Finance Act 2017 (01-04-2017). He has cited numerous judicial precedents in his analysis

Preamble

Section 153A, 153B and 153C were introduced by Finance Act 2003 with effect from 1st June 2003. There have been continuous amendments in section by the legislature from time to time and various judicial verdicts have been used to legalize the provision of this section. The Section 153A of the Act, inter alia, provides that in case of any person, if search is initiated under section 132 or books of account, other documents etc. are requisitioned under section 132A, the Assessing Officer shall issue notice requiring him to furnish a return of income in respect of each assessment year falling within six assessment years immediately preceding assessment year relevant to previous year in which such search is conducted or requisition is made "specified assessment years". The Finance Act, 2017 has made amendment in section 153A to empower an assessing officer to issue notice to an assessee beyond 6 assessment years but not beyond ten assessment years. In this article attempt is made to address the issue whether extended period of limitation for reopening assessment , could be resorted for reopening proceedings which were barred by limitation on the date of the amendment made by Finance act 2017 (01-04-2017)

1) Whether perceptive of opening of proceedings for 10 A.Y preceding the year in which search is conducted is well-founded as per the provisions of section 153A.

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Advocate Ajay Singh has conducted a meticulous assessment of the entire law in sections 147 to 153 of the Income-tax Act relating to the reopening of assessments. He has explained the entire procedure in a systematic manner and also cited all the important judgements on the issue. The Guide is an imperative read for all taxpayers and professionals. The law is updated as of July 2020

The scope and effect of a reopening of assessment is still shrouded in mystery even after various judgments of the Supreme Court and High courts. Reassessment is one of the distinguishing weapons in the armoury of the Department, empowers the Assessing Officer to assess, reassess or recompute income, turnover etc,  which has escaped assessment. A number of intricate issues crop up during the reassessment proceedings. Inspite of various guidelines laid down by courts, dept constantly prefer to disobey the same leading to quashing of the notice . It  seems dept  claim as a matter of right to reopen the assessments without appreciating the real intend or purpose behind enacting such provision . Assessment orders are not a scrap of paper which can be overturned by reopening the assessment in casual manner. Finality to assessment must be recognized as matter of principle and reopening should be an exception.   Similarly we see assessment are completed merely based on information received from various investigation department without application of mind by the Assessing officer  . Some of the issues are been dealt with here under: 

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An interaction was recently held between Sadhguru and the Hon’ble Members of the ITAT, senior officials of the Revenue Department and leading tax professionals. There was a lively debate on the various problems facing the Nation and how these problems can be overcome. Advocate Shashi Bekal has summarized the discussions between the various distinguished personalities and highlighted the core points made by them

An interaction between Sadhguru with the Hon’ble Member of ITAT, Revenue Department, and Tax professions. The Hon’ble President of the ITAT, Justice Mr. P. P. Bhatt, introduced Padma Vibhushan Shri Sadhguru ji, who is universally acknowledged for his wisdom and work. Former Chief Justice of India, Mr. Dipak Misra,  Hon’ble Governor of Uttarakhand, Hon’ble  Chief Justices and judges  of various High Courts, Hon’ble members of the ITAT, Income tax officials,  Senior Advocates, Advocates ,  Chartered Accountants and Tax consultants , were present. Further, he thanked Isha foundation helping organizing this event and achieving the ideology of AtmaNirbhar Bharat.

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Advocates Kirit Hakani & Niyati Mankad (Hakani) have exhaustively discussed the Stamp Law prevailing in the State of Maharashtra.The constitutional scheme and important legal provisions of stamp laws have been explained. The ld. authors have also dealt with the amendments brought in the Central Law by the Finance Acts 2019 & 2020 which have brought a new regime for levying stamp duty on securities and cleared confusions and disputes prevailing for many years. The relaxations given by the State Government on account of the COVID-19 pandemic have also been discussed. The law relating to stamp duty on gifts to relatives, as prevailing in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, have also been explained

I. Introduction: Object & Purpose.

1.       Laws dealing with Stamp Duty are purely fiscal measures enacted to secure revenue for the Government on certain class of instruments. It is designed to secure revenue for the State on certain classes of instruments and all its provisions must be construed as having in view the protection of revenue and the prevention of evasion of the revenue that it imposes.

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Dr. Justice D. Y. Chandrachud addressed a webinar organized by the NALSAR University of Law in which he explained in detail the concept of “virtual courts“. He highlighted the problems facing the implementation of the concept and the possible solutions. Snehal Kanzarkar, a law student, has prepared a summary of the views expressed by the ld. Judge in the webinar

Lecture on The Future of Virtual Courts and Access to Justice in India by Hon’ble Dr. Justice Chandrachud  (Nyaya Forum for Courtroom Lawyering, May 24, 2020)

Hon’ble Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud is the Chairman of the E-committee, Supreme Court of India. The E-committee has been responsible for various changes brought for the digitization of the judiciary and integration of technology with the judicial function for efficiency, transparency and accountability. Justice Chandrachud was the speaker in a webinar organized by Nyaya Forum for Courtroom Lawyering (NALSAR Hyderabad), titled ‘Future of Virtual Courts and Access to Justice In India’ on May 24th 2020. His Lordship divided his lecture in three parts:

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CA Rohit Kapoor has considered the important question whether the issue of a notice under section 143(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is a mandatory or a directory requirement and whether its non-issue is a curable defect or renders the entire assessment void. He has also examined whether the participation by the assessee in the assessment proceedings can save the assessment order under section 292BB of the Act. All the important judgements on the subject have been referred to

This article endeavours to the interpret compulsory issue of notice under section 143(2) in case of“Section 153A- Assessment  in case of search and requisition”/“Section 153C Assessment of income of other person”or where assessment is framed “under section-147 Income escaping assessment”of the Income Tax Act, 1961. It has forever been a conflict as to how the sectionmust be interpreted, in order to decide whether the procedure of regular assessment i.e issuing notice under section 143(2)has to be followed in the proceeding under section 153A or under section 147. This article tries to decode the mixed opinions of the court with regard to whether it is the compulsory to issue notice U/s 143(2) before completing an assessment under section 153A or under section 147. The author, based on thorough analysis of Section 153A and Section 147 and keeping in view the language of the both the section and the interpretations attached to it by theJudiciary, have tried to resolve the conflict.

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Advocate Shashi Bekal has systematically summarized the three major Covid-19 reforms ushered in by the Government by way of extension of due dates, reduction in rates and disbursement of tax refunds. He has explained the scope of these reforms and provided a link to the relevant notification, press releases etc. He has pointed out that there are some proposals which have so far not received legislative sanction, which is causing confusion amongst taxpayers and tax professionals. He has requested the Government to address these issues as soon as possible

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) vide Notification dated June 24, 2020 and the Ministry of Finance vide Press Release dated June 24, 2020 has provided a much needed clarity and has given a legislative sanction to the income tax reforms inter alia proposed by the Hon’ble Finance Minister in light of the pandemic COVID 19.

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The taxability of capital gains arising from Joint Development Agreements (JDAs) has been a subject matter of ongoing controversy. Section 45(5A) was inserted in the Income-tax Act, 1961 to incorporate special provisions for the taxability of these agreements. Advocate Rano Jain, a former Member of the ITAT, has explained the nuances of the entire law on the topic in a succinct and clear manner

INTRODUCTION

One of the main components of one’s income for Income Tax purposes is ‘Capital gains’. On transfer of a capital asset what a person earns or loses is assessed under this head. Chargeability and other related provisions of capital gains are contained in Part E of Chapter IV of the Income Tax Act. The term ‘transfer’ is defined under section 2(47) of the Act. Generally, on transfer of a capital asset, after deducting the cost at which the asset was acquired out of the sale consideration received, what results is the amount of capital gain/loss. This computation is subject to various other provisions as provided under the Act. However, one thing is very clear that the capital gain arises at the instance of transfer of the capital asset.

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Advocate Dharan V. Gandhi has deliberated on the interesting topic of what is “arbitrariness” in a legislation and the extent to which it can make a legislation vulnerable to challenge under Article 14 of the Constitution. He has referred to several provisions in the Income-tax Act, 1961, such as sections 50CA, 56(2)(x), Rule 11UA, 194N, and explained why they suffer from the vice of arbitrariness and stand a risk of being declared invalid

“From a positivistic point of view, equality is antithetic to arbitrariness. In fact equality and arbitrariness are sworn enemies; one belongs to the rule of law in a republic while the other, to the whim and caprice of an absolute monarch. Where an act is arbitrary it is implicit in it that it is unequal both according to political logic and constitutional law and is therefore violative of Art. 14”. These were the famous words of Justice Bhagwati in the case of E.P. Royappa v. State of T.N., (1974) 4 SCC 3, which laid the foundation stone of the doctrine of arbitrariness. This doctrine of arbitrariness has had its fair share of ups and down.

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Justice (Retd) Harsha N. Devani, the former Judge of the Gujarat High Court, delivered a talk recently under the auspices of the AIFTP, in which she explained in detail the interplay between the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, The Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 and other allied laws. A transcript of the presentation together with the recording of the video is available

1. While the Income -tax Act is primarily an Act to consolidate and amend law relating to income tax, a common thread running between the Black Money Act, Benami Transactions Act and the Money Laundering Act is black money. These three Acts have been enacted to curb the generation of black money and to recover the benefits of the ill-gotten gains from the persons possessing black money.

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