Section 147(a)

Section 147(a) — the law in short

What the courts have decided on section 147(a), in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.

• Raymond Woollen Mills Ltd v ITO Supreme CourtHelps department
  The department says the court will not look at whether its reasons are any good. Is that really the test at the reopening stage?
  Largely yes. When the validity of the initiation of reassessment is under challenge, the court asks only whether there was prima facie some material on which the department could reopen. Whether that material is sufficient or correct is not examined at that stage; it is argued in the reassessment. The appeals were dismissed and the reopening was upheld.
• Rajinder Nath v CIT Supreme CourtHelps taxpayer
  An appellate order in my firm's case said the officer is free to assess the amount in the partners' hands. Does that lift the limitation bar for assessing me?
  No. The Supreme Court held that the words finding and direction are limited in meaning. A finding must be one necessary for the disposal of the particular case, of the particular assessee and for the particular year, and directly involved in that disposal; an incidental finding will not do. A direction must be express, necessary for the disposal, and within the power of the authority making it. Saying the officer is free to take action leaves the matter to his discretion and is not a direction at all. Section 153(3)(ii) does not enlarge jurisdiction; it only raises the bar of limitation.

Listed strongest first: Supreme Court, then High Court, then Tribunal, then CBDT. Nothing here has yet been read in full by a chartered accountant — open an entry to see where it came from.