Notice under Section 148 of The Income-Tax Act, Post Faceless Reassessment Scheme

The provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (“the Act”) dealing with the reassessment of income have undergone a change by virtue of various amendments inter-alia to sections 147 to 151A of the Act made by the Finance Act, 2021 w.e.f. 1st April 2021. The Explanatory Memorandum to the Finance Bill, 2021 states that the assessment or reassessment or re-computation of income escaping assessment, to a large extent, is information-driven, and therefore, there is a need to completely reform the system of assessment or reassessment or re-computation of income escaping assessment and the assessment of search-related cases. The amendments made by Finance Act, 2021 were followed up by amendments made by the Finance Act, 2022 and also, to a certain extent, by amendments made by the Finance Act, 2023. Any amendment made to the Act should normally be with a view to enlarge/curtail the scope of the provision being amended or to plug existing mischief or to make the law simpler, or to grant/take away discretion vested in an authority (which discretion Legislature believes is not being used in a manner it ought to be). Experience, however, since the introduction of new provisions for reassessment, is that the amended provisions have brought in a flood of litigation, and much more is expected till the Apex Court settles the divergent views expressed by the High Courts. Read More