Rule 160 — Time and manner in which persons referred to in rule 159 shall furnish a statement containing particulars of Form No. 97.
Sub-rule (1) places two obligations on every person referred to in sub-rule (2) who has received a declaration in Form No. 97 in relation to a transaction specified in column 2 of the Table in rule 159. He must furnish a statement in Form No. 98 containing particulars of the declaration to the Director of Income-tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation) or the Joint Director of Income-tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation), through online transmission of electronic data to a server designated for the purpose, and obtain an acknowledgement number. He must also retain Form No. 97 for six years from the end of the financial year in which the transaction was undertaken.
Sub-rule (2) identifies those persons by their place in column 4 of the Table in rule 159: the persons at Sl. Nos. 11, 12, 13 or 14, and the persons at Sl. No. 15 or 16 who are required to get their accounts audited under section 58.
Sub-rule (3) fixes two dates in the year. Where the declarations are received by the 30th September, the statement is to be furnished by the 31st October of that year; where they are received by the 31st March, it is to be furnished by the 30th April of the financial year immediately following the financial year in which the form is received.
Sub-rule (4) fixes verification. Where the person furnishing the statement is an assessee as defined in section 2(11), the statement is verified by a person specified in section 265; in any other case, by the person referred to in column (4) of the Table in rule 159.
Rule 159 requires a Permanent Account Number to be quoted for specified transactions, and Form No. 97 is the declaration a person without one gives instead. A declaration held in a shop's file is of no use to the Department, so this rule turns it into data: the receiving person transmits the particulars in Form No. 98 to the intelligence and criminal investigation wing, keeps the original declaration for six years in case it has to be produced, and does both on a half-yearly cycle rather than transaction by transaction.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retention period for Form No. 97 | Six years | From the end of the financial year in which the transaction was undertaken | Sub-rule (1)(b) |
| Due date for the statement covering declarations received by 30th September | 31st October of that year | Statement in Form No. 98 containing particulars of the declarations | Sub-rule (3)(a) |
| Due date for the statement covering declarations received by 31st March | 30th April of the financial year immediately following the financial year in which the form is received | Statement in Form No. 98 containing particulars of the declarations | Sub-rule (3)(b) |
Not everyone who takes a Form No. 97 has to report it. Sub-rule (2) confines the obligation to persons at Sl. Nos. 11 to 14 of column 4 of the rule 159 Table, and to persons at Sl. Nos. 15 and 16 only where they are required to get their accounts audited under section 58, so the same declaration may be reportable in one person's hands and not in another's. The reporting is not a filing with the Assessing Officer: it is an online transmission to a designated server, addressed to the Director or Joint Director (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation), and the acknowledgement number obtained is the proof it happened. Transmitting the particulars does not discharge the duty to keep the paper — Form No. 97 must be retained for six years from the end of the financial year of the transaction. Verification depends on status, not on convenience: an assessee within section 2(11) must have the statement verified by a person specified in section 265. Sub-rules (3) and (4) refer to the statement in "sub-rule (1)(i)" where sub-rule (1) is lettered (a) and (b); the statement they speak of is the Form No. 98 statement required by sub-rule (1)(a).
A reporting person at Sl. No. 12 of column 4 of the rule 159 Table receives four declarations in Form No. 97 between April and September and two more in February. The first four are covered by sub-rule (3)(a) and the particulars must reach the designated server in Form No. 98 by 31 October of that year; the February declarations fall under sub-rule (3)(b), with a due date of 30 April of the following financial year. Being a company and so an assessee within section 2(11), it has the statement verified by the person specified in section 265, and it keeps each Form No. 97 for six years from the end of the financial year of the transaction.
A reporting person meets it twice a year, when transmitting Form No. 98 and taking the acknowledgement number, and again if the Department asks to see a Form No. 97 declaration held in its records.
retain Form No. 97 for a period of six years from the end of the financial year in which the transaction was undertaken
where the declarations are received by the 30th September, be furnished by the 31st October of that year