Income Tax Assessments should be in 3 years and as per 148A after 01.04.2021 :High Court

Income Tax Assessments should be in 3 years and as per 148A after 01.04.2021 :High Court

Facts of the Case

Petitioners are aggrieved by the issuance of impugned  Notices under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on the ground that the same are barred by limitation and the respondent Income Tax Authority concerned, before issuing the impugned notices under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, have not observed the statutory formalities under Section 148 A of the Income Tax Act as prescribed by the Finance Act, 2021 which are applicable with effect from 1st April, 2021 before issuance of notices under Section 148 of the Act on or after 1st April, 2021.

Decision of High Court

Notices u/s 148, if issued on or after 1-4-2021, even for past years, should be issued within the new time limit of 3 years & as per the procedure u/s 148A

• Reassessment notices issued on or after 1-4-2021 should be within the new 3 years time-limit and should comply with the procedure in new section 148A even if it pertained to past assessment years.

• Explanations A(a)(ii)/A(b) to the Notifications dated 31st March, 2021 and 27th April, 2021 are ultra vires the Relaxation Act, 2020 and are therefore bad in law and null to the extent that the same extend the applicability of the "provisions of Section 148, Section 149 and Section 151 of the Act, as the case may be, as they stood as on the 31^st March, 2021, before the commencement of the Finance Act, 2021" to the period beyond 31st March, 2021