The Assessing Officer has served a final assessment order on our foreign company raising a transfer pricing addition, without ever serving a draft order. Was he obliged to serve one first, and what was I supposed to do with it if he had?
He was obliged to serve one first, if the company is an eligible assessee and the variation is prejudicial. Section 144C(1), as printed on the departmental edition stamped Year 2025, reads: "The Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, in the first instance, forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment (hereafter in this section referred to as the draft order) to the eligible assessee if he proposes to make, on or after the 1st day of October, 2009, any variation which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee." Three things follow from the words themselves. The obligation is cast in the mandatory "shall"; it operates "notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act", so it overrides the ordinary assessment machinery; and it bites "in the first instance", that is, before and not after the order that would otherwise be the assessment order. Sub-section (2) gives the eligible assessee thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order to do one of two things: "(a) file his acceptance of the variations to the Assessing Officer; or (b) file his objections, if any, to such variation with,— (i) the Dispute Resolution Panel; and (ii) the Assessing Officer." The "and" in clause (b) is conjunctive: an objection is filed with the Panel and with the Assessing Officer, not with one or the other. Sub-section (3) requires the officer to complete the assessment on the basis of the draft order if the assessee intimates acceptance of the variation or if no objections are received within the period specified in sub-section (2). Sub-section (4) fixes the time for that order — one month from the end of the month in which the acceptance is received or the period of filing objections expires, notwithstanding s.153 or s.153B. Sub-section (5) is the Panel's charging provision: where any objection is received under sub-section (2), the Panel "shall ... issue such directions, as it thinks fit, for the guidance of the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment".
Decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) on 2009-10-01, reported as Section 144C of the Income-tax Act, 1961, heading "Reference to dispute resolution panel", transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-16 (Year: 2025), and compared with incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c (Year: 2009, original text, footnote 15a "Inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2009, w.r.e.f. 1-4-2009."), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-5 (Year: 2014), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-10 (Year: 2019 (No. 2)), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-11 (Year: 2021), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-12 (Year: 2022), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-13 (Year: 2023) and incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-14 (Year: 2024 (No. 1)). It bears on section 144C, section 144C(1), section 144C(2), section 144C(3), section 144C(5), section 144C(4), section 144C(13), section 144C(15), section 144C(14A), section 144C(16), section 92CA, section 92CA(3), section 153, section 153B, section 144B, section 144BA, section 144BA(12), section 253, section 253(1), section 246A of the Income Tax Act 1961, in Assessment & Scrutiny, Appeals and How Tax Law Is Read matters.
Section 144C is a jurisdictional statute dressed as a procedural one, and that is the whole of its practical importance. The draft order is not a courtesy and it is not a show-cause notice: it is the step the officer must take before he has power to make the variation at all, and the non obstante clause in sub-section (1) tells the reader that nothing elsewhere in the Act supplies an alternative route. Where a final order is passed on an eligible assessee without a draft order having been forwarded, the point to take is want of jurisdiction, not irregularity, and the library already holds the decisions on it — the reader should be sent to SHL India v DCIT and Transworld Garnet, both of which turn on whether s.292B can cure the omission of a draft order, to Vijay Television v DRP, to JCB India, on a draft order after remand, and to GE Oil & Gas India, on the interaction of s.144B with s.144C. This entry states only what the section says and is meant to be cited where those decisions are not on all fours. Two further points a reader needs from the text and not from a case. First, the words "in the income or loss returned" that used to qualify "variation" in sub-section (1) were omitted with effect from 1 April 2020, so for a year from assessment year 2020-21 the trigger is any prejudicial variation, not only one to the income or loss returned; the departmental editions stamped Year 2009 and Year 2019 (No. 2) still print the old words and reading the trigger off either of them is an error. Second, s.144C(14A) takes the section out of the picture where the assessment or reassessment order is passed with the prior approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner under s.144BA(12), and the proviso to s.144C(15)(b) together with s.144C(16), both inserted with effect from 1 September 2024, take block assessment under Chapter XIV-B out of it as well.
Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them.
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As printed on the departmental page stamped Year 2025, section 144C opens: "(1) The Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, in the first instance, forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment (hereafter in this section referred to as the draft order) to the eligible assessee if he proposes to make, on or after the 1st day of October, 2009, any variation which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee. (2) On receipt of the draft order, the eligible assessee shall, within thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order,— (a) file his acceptance of the variations to the Assessing Officer; or (b) file his objections, if any, to such variation with,— (i) the Dispute Resolution Panel; and (ii) the Assessing Officer. (3) The Assessing Officer shall complete the assessment on the basis of the draft order, if— (a) the assessee intimates to the Assessing Officer the acceptance of the variation; or (b) no objections are received within the period specified in sub-section (2). (4) The Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything contained in section 153 or section 153B, pass the assessment order under sub-section (3) within one month from the end of the month in which,— (a) the acceptance is received; or (b) the period of filing of objections under sub-section (2) expires. (5) The Dispute Resolution Panel shall, in a case where any objection is received under sub-section (2), issue such directions, as it thinks fit, for the guidance of the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment." Sub-section (6) requires the Panel to issue those directions after considering "(a) draft order; (b) objections filed by the assessee; (c) evidence furnished by the assessee; (d) report, if any, of the Assessing Officer, Valuation Officer or Transfer Pricing Officer or any other authority; (e) records relating to the draft order; (f) evidence collected by, or caused to be collected by, it; and (g) result of any enquiry made by, or caused to be made by, it." Sub-section (7) permits the Panel, before issuing any direction, to "(a) make such further enquiry, as it thinks fit; or (b) cause any further enquiry to be made by any income-tax authority and report the result of the same to it." Sub-section (14A) provides: "The provisions of this section shall not apply to any assessment or reassessment order passed by the Assessing Officer with the prior approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner as provided in sub-section (12) of section 144BA." Sub-section (16), printed on the Year 2025 page in square brackets against footnote marker [2], reads: "The provisions of this section shall not apply to any proceedings under Chapter XIV-B." The Year 2009 edition prints sub-section (1) in materially the same terms but with the words "any variation in the income or loss returned which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee", and prints sub-sections (4) and (13) naming section 153 alone and not section 153B.
Not a judgment. The statutory position is that where the Assessing Officer proposes to make, on or after 1 October 2009, any variation prejudicial to the interest of an eligible assessee, he shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Act, in the first instance forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment to that assessee; that the eligible assessee has thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order in which either to file his acceptance of the variations with the Assessing Officer or to file his objections with both the Dispute Resolution Panel and the Assessing Officer; that on acceptance or on no objection being received within that period the officer completes the assessment on the basis of the draft order within one month from the end of the month in which the acceptance is received or the objection period expires, notwithstanding s.153 or s.153B; and that where an objection is received the Panel shall issue such directions as it thinks fit for the guidance of the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment. The words "in the income or loss returned" were omitted from sub-section (1) by Act No. 12 of 2020 with effect from 1 April 2020.
Not a judgment; no judicial reasoning is stated for the section.
The Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, in the first instance, forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment (hereafter in this section referred to as the draft order) to the eligible assessee if he proposes to make, on or after the 1st day of October, 2009, any variation which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee.
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Handle my notice → Ask a CA on WhatsAppHe was obliged to serve one first, if the company is an eligible assessee and the variation is prejudicial. Section 144C(1), as printed on the departmental edition stamped Year 2025, reads: "The Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, in the first instance, forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment (hereafter in this section referred to as the draft order) to the eligible assessee if he proposes to make, on or after the 1st day of October, 2009, any variation which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee." Three things follow from the words themselves. The obligation is cast in the mandatory "shall"; it operates "notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act", so it overrides the ordinary assessment machinery; and it bites "in the first instance", that is, before and not after the order that would otherwise be the assessment order. Sub-section (2) gives the eligible assessee thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order to do one of two things: "(a) file his acceptance of the variations to the Assessing Officer; or (b) file his objections, if any, to such variation with,— (i) the Dispute Resolution Panel; and (ii) the Assessing Officer." The "and" in clause (b) is conjunctive: an objection is filed with the Panel and with the Assessing Officer, not with one or the other. Sub-section (3) requires the officer to complete the assessment on the basis of the draft order if the assessee intimates acceptance of the variation or if no objections are received within the period specified in sub-section (2). Sub-section (4) fixes the time for that order — one month from the end of the month in which the acceptance is received or the period of filing objections expires, notwithstanding s.153 or s.153B. Sub-section (5) is the Panel's charging provision: where any objection is received under sub-section (2), the Panel "shall ... issue such directions, as it thinks fit, for the guidance of the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment". This was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) and bears on section 144C, section 144C(1), section 144C(2), section 144C(3), section 144C(5), section 144C(4), section 144C(13), section 144C(15), section 144C(14A), section 144C(16), section 92CA, section 92CA(3), section 153, section 153B, section 144B, section 144BA, section 144BA(12), section 253, section 253(1), section 246A of the Income Tax Act 1961. It is reported as Section 144C of the Income-tax Act, 1961, heading "Reference to dispute resolution panel", transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-16 (Year: 2025), and compared with incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c (Year: 2009, original text, footnote 15a "Inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2009, w.r.e.f. 1-4-2009."), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-5 (Year: 2014), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-10 (Year: 2019 (No. 2)), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-11 (Year: 2021), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-12 (Year: 2022), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-13 (Year: 2023) and incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-14 (Year: 2024 (No. 1)). Section 144C is a jurisdictional statute dressed as a procedural one, and that is the whole of its practical importance. The draft order is not a courtesy and it is not a show-cause notice: it is the step the officer must take before he has power to make the variation at all, and the non obstante clause in sub-section (1) tells the reader that nothing elsewhere in the Act supplies an alternative route. Where a final order is passed on an eligible assessee without a draft order having been forwarded, the point to take is want of jurisdiction, not irregularity, and the library already holds the decisions on it — the reader should be sent to SHL India v DCIT and Transworld Garnet, both of which turn on whether s.292B can cure the omission of a draft order, to Vijay Television v DRP, to JCB India, on a draft order after remand, and to GE Oil & Gas India, on the interaction of s.144B with s.144C. This entry states only what the section says and is meant to be cited where those decisions are not on all fours. Two further points a reader needs from the text and not from a case. First, the words "in the income or loss returned" that used to qualify "variation" in sub-section (1) were omitted with effect from 1 April 2020, so for a year from assessment year 2020-21 the trigger is any prejudicial variation, not only one to the income or loss returned; the departmental editions stamped Year 2009 and Year 2019 (No. 2) still print the old words and reading the trigger off either of them is an error. Second, s.144C(14A) takes the section out of the picture where the assessment or reassessment order is passed with the prior approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner under s.144BA(12), and the proviso to s.144C(15)(b) together with s.144C(16), both inserted with effect from 1 September 2024, take block assessment under Chapter XIV-B out of it as well. If it applies to you, the first step is this: Establish first that your client is an eligible assessee within s.144C(15)(b). Where there is no eligible assessee the draft order machinery does not apply at all, and the separate entry in this library on s.144C(15)(b) sets out both limbs.
As printed on the departmental page stamped Year 2025, section 144C opens: "(1) The Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, in the first instance, forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment (hereafter in this section referred to as the draft order) to the eligible assessee if he proposes to make, on or after the 1st day of October, 2009, any variation which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee. (2) On receipt of the draft order, the eligible assessee shall, within thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order,— (a) file his acceptance of the variations to the Assessing Officer; or (b) file his objections, if any, to such variation with,— (i) the Dispute Resolution Panel; and (ii) the Assessing Officer. (3) The Assessing Officer shall complete the assessment on the basis of the draft order, if— (a) the assessee intimates to the Assessing Officer the acceptance of the variation; or (b) no objections are received within the period specified in sub-section (2). (4) The Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything contained in section 153 or section 153B, pass the assessment order under sub-section (3) within one month from the end of the month in which,— (a) the acceptance is received; or (b) the period of filing of objections under sub-section (2) expires. (5) The Dispute Resolution Panel shall, in a case where any objection is received under sub-section (2), issue such directions, as it thinks fit, for the guidance of the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment." Sub-section (6) requires the Panel to issue those directions after considering "(a) draft order; (b) objections filed by the assessee; (c) evidence furnished by the assessee; (d) report, if any, of the Assessing Officer, Valuation Officer or Transfer Pricing Officer or any other authority; (e) records relating to the draft order; (f) evidence collected by, or caused to be collected by, it; and (g) result of any enquiry made by, or caused to be made by, it." Sub-section (7) permits the Panel, before issuing any direction, to "(a) make such further enquiry, as it thinks fit; or (b) cause any further enquiry to be made by any income-tax authority and report the result of the same to it." Sub-section (14A) provides: "The provisions of this section shall not apply to any assessment or reassessment order passed by the Assessing Officer with the prior approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner as provided in sub-section (12) of section 144BA." Sub-section (16), printed on the Year 2025 page in square brackets against footnote marker [2], reads: "The provisions of this section shall not apply to any proceedings under Chapter XIV-B." The Year 2009 edition prints sub-section (1) in materially the same terms but with the words "any variation in the income or loss returned which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee", and prints sub-sections (4) and (13) naming section 153 alone and not section 153B. The matter was decided on 2009-10-01 by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text). On those facts the CBDT Circulars & Instructions held as follows. Not a judgment. The statutory position is that where the Assessing Officer proposes to make, on or after 1 October 2009, any variation prejudicial to the interest of an eligible assessee, he shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Act, in the first instance forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment to that assessee; that the eligible assessee has thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order in which either to file his acceptance of the variations with the Assessing Officer or to file his objections with both the Dispute Resolution Panel and the Assessing Officer; that on acceptance or on no objection being received within that period the officer completes the assessment on the basis of the draft order within one month from the end of the month in which the acceptance is received or the objection period expires, notwithstanding s.153 or s.153B; and that where an objection is received the Panel shall issue such directions as it thinks fit for the guidance of the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment. The words "in the income or loss returned" were omitted from sub-section (1) by Act No. 12 of 2020 with effect from 1 April 2020.
Not a judgment; no judicial reasoning is stated for the section. In the words reproduced by the source cited on this page: "The Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, in the first instance, forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment (hereafter in this section referred to as the draft order) to the eligible assessee if he proposes to make, on or after the 1st day of October, 2009, any variation which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee."
It was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions on 2009-10-01 and is reported as Section 144C of the Income-tax Act, 1961, heading "Reference to dispute resolution panel", transcribed from incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-16 (Year: 2025), and compared with incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c (Year: 2009, original text, footnote 15a "Inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2009, w.r.e.f. 1-4-2009."), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-5 (Year: 2014), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-10 (Year: 2019 (No. 2)), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-11 (Year: 2021), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-12 (Year: 2022), incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-13 (Year: 2023) and incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-144c-14 (Year: 2024 (No. 1)). Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them. A CBDT circular or instruction binds officers of the department but not the assessee and not the courts. Where a circular helps you, you may hold the department to it. Where it hurts you, it cannot override the Act or a judgment. On section 144C, section 144C(1), section 144C(2), section 144C(3), section 144C(5), section 144C(4), section 144C(13), section 144C(15), section 144C(14A), section 144C(16), section 92CA, section 92CA(3), section 153, section 153B, section 144B, section 144BA, section 144BA(12), section 253, section 253(1), section 246A, the practical question is whether the facts of your own notice match the facts of this case closely enough for the same rule to apply.
It cuts both ways and is cited by both sides. Not a judgment. The statutory position is that where the Assessing Officer proposes to make, on or after 1 October 2009, any variation prejudicial to the interest of an eligible assessee, he shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Act, in the first instance forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment to that assessee; that the eligible assessee has thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order in which either to file his acceptance of the variations with the Assessing Officer or to file his objections with both the Dispute Resolution Panel and the Assessing Officer; that on acceptance or on no objection being received within that period the officer completes the assessment on the basis of the draft order within one month from the end of the month in which the acceptance is received or the objection period expires, notwithstanding s.153 or s.153B; and that where an objection is received the Panel shall issue such directions as it thinks fit for the guidance of the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment. The words "in the income or loss returned" were omitted from sub-section (1) by Act No. 12 of 2020 with effect from 1 April 2020. It arises in Assessment & Scrutiny, Appeals and How Tax Law Is Read matters, on section 144C, section 144C(1), section 144C(2), section 144C(3), section 144C(5), section 144C(4), section 144C(13), section 144C(15), section 144C(14A), section 144C(16), section 92CA, section 92CA(3), section 153, section 153B, section 144B, section 144BA, section 144BA(12), section 253, section 253(1), section 246A of the Income Tax Act 1961, and was decided by Not applicable — statutory text. Before relying on it, read the source linked on this page and check whether it has since been distinguished, overruled or overtaken by an amendment to the Income Tax Act. In practice the steps that follow from it are these. If a final order has been passed on an eligible assessee with no draft order having been forwarded, take the point as one of jurisdiction, founded on the mandatory "shall" and the non obstante clause in s.144C(1), and cite the decisions the library already holds — SHL India v DCIT, Transworld Garnet, Vijay Television v DRP. On receipt of a draft order, diarise thirty days from the date of receipt by the assessee, not from the date of the order, and not from the date of despatch. Section 144C(2) runs "within thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order". File the objection with BOTH addressees. Section 144C(2)(b) requires it to be filed with the Dispute Resolution Panel and with the Assessing Officer; filing with one only leaves the other limb unsatisfied on the face of the section. Do not file an acceptance under s.144C(2)(a) as a formality. Acceptance takes the matter straight to s.144C(3) and s.144C(4), the Panel is never seized, and the appeal route in s.253(1)(d), which depends on an order passed in pursuance of directions of the Panel, is not available on that order. Check s.144C(14A) and, for a proceeding under Chapter XIV-B, the proviso to s.144C(15)(b) and s.144C(16) before assuming the section applies; each of them carves a class of order out of s.144C.
Still good law. The text is current so far as I could establish. Eight departmental editions of s.144C were read, with "Year:" stamps of 2009, 2014, 2019 (No. 2), 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 (No. 1) and 2025, and the progression across them is coherent: sub-section (1) loses the words "in the income or loss returned" with effect from 1 April 2020, sub-sections (4) and (13) acquire the reference to s.153B, and sub-sections (14B) to (14D) and (16) are added. Year 2025 is the most recent edition I reached; I probed no suffix above /w/section-144c-16, so an amendment after the Year 2025 edition cannot be excluded. No Finance Act, Gazette notification or judgment was read on this pass, and every amending Act number and date stated here comes from a departmental footnote. Nothing in this entry rests on the three .htm addresses returned by the departmental search that answered 404. No source could be cited for that finding. Checking whether an authority still stands matters as much as knowing what it held: a decision may be overruled on one point and survive on another, or the provision it interprets may have been amended since. Read the source and the editor's note on this page before relying on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal.
Eight departmental editions of s.144C were opened and their "Year:" stamps recorded: /w/section-144c (Year: 2009), /w/section-144c-5 (Year: 2014), /w/section-144c-10 (Year: 2019 (No. 2)), /w/section-144c-11 (Year: 2021), /w/section-144c-12 (Year: 2022), /w/section-144c-13 (Year: 2023), /w/section-144c-14 (Year: 2024 (No. 1)) and /w/section-144c-16 (Year: 2025). All carry the heading "Reference to dispute resolution panel". Year 2025 is the most recent edition reached and the text in this entry is taken from it. The URL suffix is not a version number: /w/section-144c-10 carries a LATER year stamp than /w/section-144c-5 but /w/section-253-46 carries Year 1974 while /w/section-253-63 carries Year 2024 (No. 2), so no ordering can be read off the suffix. STALE-PAGE WARNING, found this pass. /w/section-144c (Year: 2009) and /w/section-144c-10 (Year: 2019 (No. 2)) both print s.144C(1) with the words "any variation IN THE INCOME OR LOSS RETURNED which is prejudicial to the interest of such assessee", and both print s.144C(15)(b)(ii) as "any foreign company". Both readings are out of date. Footnote 95 on /w/section-144c-11 (Year: 2021) reads verbatim "Words \"in the income or loss returned\" Omtt. by the Act No. 12 of 2020, w.e.f. 1-4-2020." and footnote 97 on the same page reads verbatim "Sub. by the Act No. 12 of 2020, w.e.f. 1-4-2020." against sub-clause (ii). The Year 2025 edition prints (1) without those words and (15)(b)(ii) as "any non-resident not being a company, or any foreign company". /w/section-144c-10 is the second hit the departmental search returns for this section and it is a trap: a reader who takes the definition off it will conclude that a non-resident individual or firm is not an eligible assessee, which has been wrong since 1 April 2020. /w/section-144c (Year: 2009) also prints s.144C(8) with NO Explanation and s.144C(15)(a) as "three Commissioners of Income-tax" rather than "three Principal Commissioners or Commissioners of Income-tax". FOOTNOTE INVENTORY, transcribed verbatim from the editions named. /w/section-144c (Year: 2009), one footnote: "15a. Inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2009, w.r.e.f. 1-4-2009." /w/section-144c-5 (Year: 2014), footnote against the Explanation to sub-section (8): "76. Inserted by the Finance Act, 2012, w.r.e.f. 1-4-2009." /w/section-144c-10 (Year: 2019 (No. 2)): the "Footnotes" heading is printed but the list under it is EMPTY. /w/section-144c-11 (Year: 2021), three footnotes: "95. Words \"in the income or loss returned\" Omtt. by the Act No. 12 of 2020, w.e.f. 1-4-2020."; "96. Sub-sections (14B) to (14D) Ins. by the Act. No. 38 of 2020, w.e.f. 1-11-2020."; "97. Sub. by the Act No. 12 of 2020, w.e.f. 1-4-2020." /w/section-144c-12 (Year: 2022), one footnote: "91. Sub. by the Act No. 12 of 2020, w.e.f. 1-4-2020." /w/section-144c-13 (Year: 2023), one footnote: "12. Substituted for \"2022\" by the Finance Act, 2022, w.e.f. 1-4-2022." /w/section-144c-14 (Year: 2024 (No. 1)), one footnote: "12. Substituted for \"2024\" by the Finance Act, 2024, w.e.f. 1-4-2024. Earlier \"2024\" was substituted for \"2022\" by the Finance Act, 2022, w.e.f. 1-4-2022." /w/section-144c-16 (Year: 2025), two footnotes: "1. Omtt. by Act 2025, w.e.f. 1-4-2025. Prior to its omission, the proviso, as amended by Act No. 6 of 2022, w.e.f. 1-4-2022 and Act No. 8 of 2024, w.e.f. 1-4-2024, read as under: \"Provided that no direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2025.\""; and "2. Ins. by Act No. 15 of 2024, w.e.f. 1-9-2024." I have NOT verified the short title of any of Act No. 12 of 2020, Act No. 38 of 2020, Act No. 6 of 2022, Act No. 8 of 2024, Act No. 15 of 2024, Act No. 25 of 2014, Act No. 20 of 2015 or Act No. 28 of 2016 against a government source; the Act numbers are what the departmental pages print and are what this library states. Footnote 1 on the Year 2025 page names the omitting Act only as "Act 2025", which is how it is printed. DEAD URLS IN THE DEPARTMENTAL SEARCH INDEX. Three .htm addresses were returned by WebSearch on incometaxindia.gov.in and every one of them returned HTTP 404 on WebFetch: /Acts/Income-tax%20Act,%201961/2013/102120000000027075.htm (indexed as "Reference to dispute resolution panel."), /Acts/Income-tax%20Act,%201961/2021/102120000000077655.htm and /Acts/Income-tax%20Act,%201961/2019/102120000000073641.htm (both indexed as "Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal"). The content of those three pages is not available to me and nothing in this entry rests on them. WHAT I COULD NOT ESTABLISH ON THIS PASS. The WebFetch summariser refused a single bulk verbatim transcription of the whole of s.144C, citing a quotation limit, so the section was taken from the Year 2025 edition in four separate fetches — (1) to (5); (8) to (13); (6), (7), (14), (14A), (14B), (15) and (16); and (14C) and (14D) — each demanding word-for-word transcription of named sub-sections only. The four runs are consistent with each other and with the Year 2009 original where the text is unchanged. I did not read any Finance Act or any Gazette notification this pass and every amending Act and date in this entry comes from a departmental footnote. I read no judgment on this pass and make no statement about what any case named here holds beyond the point it is held under in this library. 'decided_on' is 2009-10-01, the date from which s.144C(1) operates on its own words ("on or after the 1st day of October, 2009"); it is not a decision date, and 'bench' and 'favours' are inapplicable to a statutory entry. Note that the section was inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2009 w.r.e.f. 1-4-2009 per footnote 15a on the Year 2009 page, so the insertion date and the operative date differ by six months. This library shows the verification state of every entry openly. This entry has not yet been read in full by a chartered accountant. The summary reflects the sources listed on this page. Read the source before you rely on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
Not a judgment. The statutory position is that where the Assessing Officer proposes to make, on or after 1 October 2009, any variation prejudicial to the interest of an eligible assessee, he shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Act, in the first instance forward a draft of the proposed order of assessment to that assessee; that the eligible assessee has thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order in which either to file his acceptance of the variations with the Assessing Officer or to file his objections with both the Dispute Resolution Panel and the Assessing Officer; that on acceptance or on no objection being received within that period the officer completes the assessment on the basis of the draft order within one month from the end of the month in which the acceptance is received or the objection period expires, notwithstanding s.153 or s.153B; and that where an objection is received the Panel shall issue such directions as it thinks fit for the guidance of the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment. The words "in the income or loss returned" were omitted from sub-section (1) by Act No. 12 of 2020 with effect from 1 April 2020.
TaxSphere, “Statutory position — s.144C(1) to (5): the Assessing Officer must, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Act, forward a draft order to an eligible assessee before he makes any prejudicial variation, and the assessee has thirty days to accept or to object to the Dispute Resolution Panel AND to the Assessing Officer”, https://taxnotice.vittsphere.com/caselaw/case/statutory-position-144c-the-draft-assessment-order-and-the-machinery-of-sub-sections-1-to-5/ (validity last checked 2026-09-17)
The judgment itself is a government work and may be quoted freely. The summary, the validity note and the reasoning on this page are this library's own writing: quote them with attribution, and please do not present either as the words of the court — this page keeps the two apart and so should a quotation of it.
Every entry in this library links to where it was found, so you can check it yourself rather than take our word for it.
We received a draft order on 12 March. Nobody objected. When was the final order due, and if we had objected, by when must the Dispute Resolution Panel have issued its directions and by when must the officer have given effect to them?
We are considering objecting to a draft order. Can the Dispute Resolution Panel make our position worse, can it send the matter back for fresh enquiry, and if we lose before it, do we appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) or straight to the Tribunal?
The Assessing Officer has forwarded a draft order to our partnership firm, which is non-resident but is not a company, and there is no Transfer Pricing Officer's order in the case. Is the firm an eligible assessee at all, and does it matter which assessment year we are in?
The officer took the TPO's adjustment straight into a final order without giving me a draft order. The department says s.292B cures it. Does it?
