03 May 2013
Notice u/s 148 relates to reopen/ reassessment. ITAT Cochin in Kadachira Service co-operative bank v/s CIT observes that without assessment there cannot be a reassessemny u/s 147. My client did not file return of income tax for AY-2007-2008. They have not received any notice from Income Tax department so far.Now they are in receipt of notice u/s 148. Whether the AO is correct in believing that failure in filing return results in "escaped income" and is he right in making assessment u/s 147? Shall AO make assessment for a time barred AY invoking sec.147?
04 May 2013
Assessing Officer CAN issue a notice u/s 148 if he has Reason to beleive that any income , chargeable to tax, has escaped assessment. Your case is falling under section 147 as the time limit and sanction for issue of notice (refer section 149) has not passed yet. Sec 147 includes both the assessment and reassessment cases.
10 May 2013
So, what could be the reason for ITAT, Cochin observed that "Unless and until, the assessment proceedings initiated by the assessing officer by issuing notice u/s 142(1) culminated either by an assessment order or otherwise by operation of law, we may not be able to say that any part of income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment. Therefore, the assessing officer had no jurisdiction at all to issue notice u/s 148 for assessing the income of the taxpayer"? ITA No.251, 253, 254&255, 267 & 268/Coch2012 IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL COCHIN BENCH, COCHIN in a batch of petitions- Re: Kadachira Service co-operative Bank