Scrutiny u/s 143(3). - Income Tax - 439/CBDT

INSTRUCTION NO. 439/CBDT Dated: July 15, 1972 Section(s) Referred: 143(3) Statute: Income - Tax Act, 1961 Reference is invited to the Board's Instruction No. 426 F.No. 233/1/72-A PAC dated 14-6-1972 issued in pursuance of discussions in the last Commissioners' Conference on the subject indicated above and to say that on references received, the Board have taken the following further decisions in this regard: (i) Prompt completion of scrutiny cases:- The Board desire that pending assessments in important cases which have to be completed after detailed scrutiny, should be completed as far as possible by 31st December 1972 so that demands raised in these revenue yielding cases become due and are realised well within the current year. (ii) Cases of Firms and Partners:- Where the case of a firm in a scrutiny circle and of any partner thereof in nonscrutiny assessing circle the partner to wait for the completion of the assessment of the firm, before finalising the partner's assessment (vide Board's Circular letter No. 75/195/62-ITJ) dated 24-8-1966 issued on the basis of Supreme Court decision in the case of CIT Vs. Murlidhar Jhawar (60 ITR 95). It may be added that, as indicated in the Board's aforesaid circular, if the I.T. Officer assessing the firm feels that the assessment of the firm is likely to be delayed, he should promptly pass a suitable order u/s 184/185 in respect of registration, so that there is no undue hold up for the completion of the partner's assessment in whose cases, if the firm has been granted registration, shares, as declared, may be included provisionally and rectified later when assessment order is passed in the case of the firm vide CIT Vs. Chaganlal Durga Prashad (70 ITR 314). (iii) Where the cases of both firm and partners are in Scrutiny Circle and the partners' assessments are completed by mainly including shares from the partnerships, for completion of such assessments of partners monthly disposal quotas fixed for non-scrutiny assessments should be applied and kept in view proportionately for overall evaluation of the I.T.O.'s monthly output, where changes in jurisdiction have already been effected for this purpose. (iv) Section 147 reassessment and assessments picked up for "Selective Scrutiny" in summary assessment cases:- As indicated in the Board's Instruction No. 289 F.No. 385/32/71-ITB dated 30th April 1971, re-assessment taken up u/s 147 even in summary assessment cases have to be completed after detailed scrutiny and for this purpose, the case will have to be assigned to a scrutiny I.T.O. Similarly out of summary assessments completed, those picked up for "selective scrutiny" should also be handled by a scrutiny I.T. Officer and the case should be assigned to him for this purpose. Such transfers may be so arranged to a single I.T. Officer in the same Circle and the same range so that there is no difficulty in locating the records, where, however, after completion of a summary assessment the assessee applies u/s 143(2), a subsequent assessment u/s 143(3) may be handled by the summary assessment circle I.T. Officer himself. (v) Assessments in the cases of assessees in professions:- Where proper investigation is called for in the cases of assessees in professions (viz. doctors, lawyers, architects and chartered accountants) the Commissioners, in their discretion, may assign selected cases of this category from even lower income group to a scrutiny I.T. Officer. (vi) Cases of HUF Major Shareholders and Members/Satellite- Where an I.T. Officer scrutiny circle assessing the case of a HUF or a major shareholder in a company thinks it necessary to deal in a coordinated manner with the connected cases of the HUF's members or of the major share-holder's satellites, such connected cases falling in the purview of non-scrutiny circles, may be assigned by the Commissioner to the Income-tax Officer scrutiny circle dealing with the main case.