Section 68 - Amendment of section 245D. - Finance Act, 2021

Amendment of section 245D. 68. In section 245D of the Income-tax Act, with effect from the 1st day of February, 2021, (i) in sub-section (2C), after the second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted, namely: Provided also that where in respect of an application, an order, which was required to be passed under this sub-section on or before the 31st day of January, 2021, has not been passed on or before the 31st day of January, 2021, such application shall deemed to be valid. ; (ii) in sub-section (6B), for the words amend any order passed by it , the words amend any order passed shall be substituted and shall be deemed to have been substituted; (iii) after sub-section (8), the following sub-sections shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted, namely: (9) On and from the 1st day of February, 2021, the provisions of sub-sections (1), (2), (2B), (2C), (3), (4), (4A), (5), (6) and (6B) shall apply to pending applications allotted to Interim Board with the following modifications, namely: (i) for the words Settlement Commission , wherever they occur, the words Interim Board shall be substituted; (ii) for the word Bench , the words Interim Board shall be substituted; (iii) for the purposes of this section, the date referred to in sub-section (2) of section 245M shall be deemed to be date on which the application was made under section 245C and received by the Interim Board; (iv) where the time-limit for amending any order or filing of rectification application as per sub-section (6B) expires on or after the 1st day of February, 2021, in computing the period of limitation, the period commencing from the 1 [ 1st day of February, 2021 ] and ending on the end of the month in which the Interim Board is constituted shall be excluded and where immediately after exclusion of such period, the remaining period available to the Interim Board for amending the order or to the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner or the applicant for filing of application is less than sixty days, such remaining period shall be extended to sixty days and the period of limitation shall be deemed to have been extended accordingly. (10) On and from the 1st day of February, 2021, the provisions of sub-sections (6A) and (7) shall have effect as if for the words Settlement Commission , the words Settlement Commission or Interim Board of Settlement had been substituted. (11) The Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, make a scheme, for the purposes of settlement in respect of pending applications by the Interim Board, so as to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by- (a) eliminating the interface between the Interim Board and the assessee in the course of proceedings to the extent technologically feasible; (b) optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation; (c) introducing a mechanism with dynamic jurisdiction. (12) The Central Government may, for the purposes of giving effect to the scheme made under sub-section (11), by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any of the provisions of this Act shall not apply or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as may be specified in the said notification: Provided that no such direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2023. (13) Every notification issued under sub-section (11) and sub-section (12) shall, as soon as may be after the notification is issued, be laid before each House of Parliament. . ************ NOTES:- 1. Corrected vide CORRIGENDA dated 06-04-2021 before it was read as 1st February, 2021