Power to reduce or waive penalty in certain cases - Section 273A - Income Tax - Ready Reckoner - Income Tax

Power to reduce or waive penalty in certain cases - Section 273A Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the commissioner may, in his discretion, reduce or waive the amount of penalty imposed or imposable u/s 270A or 271(1)(c) of the Act. Waiver may be suo moto or otherwise: This power can be exercised by the Commissioner on his own motion or on an application made by the assessee. Conditions to be satisfied for waiver/reduction: The Commissioner shall exercise this power if he is satisfied that - The assessee has prior to detection by the Assessing Officer, of the concealment of particulars of income or of the inaccuracy of particulars furnished in respect of such income, voluntarily and in good faith, made full and true disclosure of such particulars. The assessee has cooperated in any enquiry relating to the assessment of his income and The assessee has either paid or made satisfactory arrangements for the payment of tax and interest payable in respect of the relevant assessment year/years. Require prior approval [ Section 273A(1A) ] Notwithstanding anything contained in section 273A(1), - if in a case falling under section 270A or section 271(1)( c ), the amount of income in respect of which the penalty is imposed or imposable for the relevant assessment year, or, where such disclosure relates to more than one assessment year, the aggregate amount of such income for those years, exceeds a sum of ₹ 5 Lakhs, - no order reducing or waiving the penalty under section 273A(1) shall be made by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner except with the previous approval of the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Director General or Director General, as the case may be. Relief once in life [ Section 273A(3) ] Where an order has been made under section 273A(1) in favour of any person, whether such order relates to one or more assessment years, he shall not be entitled to any relief under this section in relation to any other assessment year at any time after the making of such order : Where an order has been made in favour of any person under section 273A(1) on or before the 24th, July, 1991, such person shall be entitled to further relief only once in relation to other assessment year or years if he makes an application to the income-tax authority referred to in section 273A(4) at any time before the 1st April, 1992. In other words Order under section 273A(1) can be made in favour of assessee once in his life time. Power to reduce or waive any penalty [ Section 273A(4) ] Without prejudice to the powers conferred on him by any other provision of this Act, the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner may, on an application made in this behalf by an assessee, and after recording his reasons for so doing, reduce or waive the amount of any penalty payable by the assessee under this Act or stay or compound any proceeding for the recovery of any such amount, if he is satisfied that- - To do otherwise would cause genuine hardship to the assessee, having regard to the circumstances of the case and - The assessee has cooperated in any enquiry relating to assessment or any proceeding for the recovery of any amount due from him. where the amount of any penalty payable under this Act or, where such application relates to more than one penalty, the aggregate amount of such penalties exceeds one hundred thousand rupees, no order reducing or waiving the amount or compounding any proceeding for its recovery under section 273A(4) shall be made by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner; except with the previous approval of the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Director General or Director General, as the case may be. Section 273A(4A) :- The order under section 273A(4), either accepting or rejecting the application in full or in part, shall be passed within a period of 12 months from the end of the month in which the application under the said sub-section is received by the Principal Commissioner or the Commissioner. However no order rejecting the application the application, either in full or in part shall be passed unless the assessee has been given an opportunity of being heard. Further where any application is pending on 1-6-2016, the order shall be passed on or before 31-5-2017. No Appeal - Every order made under this section shall be final and shall not be called into question by any court or any other authority. [ Section 273A(5) ] Note - Interest u/s 234A, 234B or 234C cannot be waived or reduced by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner u/s 273A.