Jurisdiction for authorising a prosecution under section 276(b), 276(d) and 276B - Income Tax - 539/CBDT

INSTRUCTION NO. 539/CBDT Dated : April 25, 1973 Section(s) Referred: 276(b) ,276(d) ,276B Statute: Income - Tax Act, 1961 In a recent case, one of the Commissioners raised an interesting point of jurisdiction for authorising a prosecution under section 276(b), 276(d) and 276B where the offence was committed by a firm carrying on its business at Bombay while itself being assessed at Delhi. The material question in such cases is to see who has jurisdiction over the person responsible for deducting and paying the tax as defined in section 204 of the Act. The person responsible in the case of a company is the company including its principal officer and in the case of the firm, it is the firm including its partners. Therefore, in such cases, the Commissioner having jurisdiction over the person responsible for deduction and payment of tax will have to authorise the prosecution. In cases where the jurisdiction of the company/firm is different from the jurisdiction over the Principal Officer/Partner, the Commissioners having respective jurisdiction should issue separate authorisation. The above clarification may please be kept in view while sending prosecution proposals under section 276 or section 276B.