Section 61 - Amendment of section 18 - Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 1970

61. Amendment of section 18. In section 18 of the Wealth-tax Act, (a) in sub-section (2A), the following proviso shall be inserted at the end, namely:- Provided that if in a case falling under clause (c) of sub-section (1) the amount in respect of which penalty is imposable for the relevant assessment year, or where such disclosure relates to more than one assessment year, such amount for any one of the relevant assessment years, exceeds five hundred thousand rupees, no order reducing or waiving the penalty shall be made by the Commissioner unless the previous approval of the Board has been obtained. ; (b) in sub-section (3), for the words the minimum penalty imposable exceeds a sum of rupees one thousand , the following shall be substituted, namely:- the amount (as determined by the Wealth-tax Officer on assessment) in respect of which penalty is imposable under clause (c) of sub-section (1) exceeds a sum of twenty-five thousand rupees ; (c) for sub-section (5), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely: -- (5) No order imposing a penalty under this section shall be passed- (a) in a case where the assessment to which the proceedings for imposition of penalty relate is the subject-matter of an appeal to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner under section 23 or an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (2) of section 24, after the expiration of a period of- (i) two years from the end of the financial year in which the proceedings, in the course of which action for imposition of penalty has been initiated, are completed, or (ii) six months from the end of the month in which the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner or, as the case may be, the Appellate Tribunal is received by the Commissioner, whichever period expires later; (b) in any other case, after the expiration of two years from the end of the financial year in which the proceedings, in the course of which action for imposition of penalty has been initiated, are completed. Explanation. In computing the period of limitation for the purposes of this section, the time taken in giving an opportunity to the assessee to be reheard under the proviso to section 39 and any period during which a proceeding under this section for the levy of penalty is stayed by an order or injunction of any court shall be excluded. .