BMA s.15

BMA s.15 — the law in short

What the courts have decided on section BMA s.15, in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.

• Nikhill Taneja v ADIT (Inv.) High CourtHelps taxpayerNo later treatment found
  I went to the High Court instead of appealing, and the thirty days under s.15 have gone. Am I out of time?
  Not where the High Court protects the position on withdrawal. The Delhi High Court permitted the petition to be withdrawn with liberty to appeal under s.15 of the Black Money Act, and directed that if the appeal is preferred within thirty days the appellate authority shall consider it in accordance with law without raising any objection about limitation, because the petitioner had been pursuing his remedy before the Court.
• Binoy Kodiyeri v DDIT High CourtHelps departmentNo later treatment found
  Can I take an assessment under the Black Money Act straight to the High Court?
  Not ordinarily. The Kerala High Court dismissed two writ petitions against proceedings under the Black Money Act because the assessment order was appealable under s.15 of that Act and the petitioner had come to the Court directly without invoking the statutory remedy. The dismissal was without prejudice to the right to appeal, and the Court excluded the period from 24 March 2023 until receipt of the certified copy of the judgment in computing limitation for that appeal.
• Prateek Chitkara v Union of India High CourtCuts both waysNo later treatment found
  There is a look-out circular against me while my Black Money Act appeal is pending. Can I get it lifted, and does the appeal need money deposited first?
  The look-out circular was not quashed but was converted into an intimation of arrival and departure under clause 6(I) of the Office Memorandum dated 22 February 2021, on conditions including security over property, the Court holding that this was not a case detrimental to the economic interest of the country as there was no allegation of siphoning of public funds and no criminal proceedings had been initiated despite the demand. On the appeal, the Court recorded that no amount had been deposited under Rule 6(4) of the Black Money Rules, which requires the tax with penalty and interest on the liability not objected to by the assessee to be paid before an appeal under s.15(1) is admitted.
• Krishna Das Agrawal v Income Tax Department High CourtHelps departmentNo later treatment found
  My Black Money Act appeal is pending and part of the demand is stayed. Can I stop the penalty proceedings until the appeal is decided?
  No. The Rajasthan High Court declined to stay penalty proceedings under the Black Money Act while the appeal against the assessment was pending before the appellate authority. The pendency of an appeal does not by itself suspend penalty proceedings, the authority has to complete them within the period fixed by s.47, and any penalty order can itself be appealed. Liberty was reserved to move against coercive steps taken after the penalty order.
• Statutory position — s.15 of the Black Money Act and rule 6(4) of the Black Money Rules, 2015: what may be appealed to the Commissioner (Appeals), the thirty-day period and the one-year limit on condonation, and the rule that bars admission of the appeal unless the tax with penalty and interest on the undisputed liability has been paid CBDT Circulars & InstructionsCuts both waysValidity unconfirmed
  I want to appeal a Black Money Act assessment to the Commissioner (Appeals). Is there a pre-deposit, and if so on what amount — the whole demand or only the part I am not disputing?
  On the part not objected to. Rule 6(4) of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Rules, 2015, notified by G.S.R. 529(E) dated 2 July 2015, reads: "No appeal under sub-section (1) of section 15 shall be admitted unless at the time of filing of the appeal the assessee has paid the tax alongwith penalty and interest thereon on the amount of liability which has not been objected to by the assessee." The condition is on admission, it bites at the time of filing, and it is measured by the liability not objected to — not by the whole demand. The same rule provides that the appeal is made in Form 2 (rule 6(1)), that the form, grounds and verification are signed and verified by the person authorised to sign the return of income under s.140 of the Income-tax Act (rule 6(2)), and that the appeal is accompanied by a fee of ten thousand rupees (rule 6(3)). Section 15(1) gives the right of appeal to any person objecting to the amount of tax on undisclosed foreign income and asset for which he is assessed, denying his liability to be assessed under the Act, objecting to any penalty imposed by the Assessing Officer, objecting to an order of rectification having the effect of enhancing the assessment or reducing the refund, or objecting to an order refusing to allow a claim for rectification under s.12. Section 15(3) requires the appeal to be presented within thirty days from the date of service of the notice of demand relating to the assessment or penalty, or from the date on which intimation of the order appealed against is served in any other case. Section 15(4) allows the Commissioner (Appeals) to admit a late appeal where he is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not presenting it in time and the delay does not exceed one year. Section 15(5) requires him to hear and determine the appeal and pass such orders as he thinks fit, with a proviso that an order enhancing the assessment or penalty shall not be made unless the assessee has been given a reasonable opportunity.
• Sections 15 to 19 of the Black Money Act - the appeal machinery CBDT Circulars & InstructionsCuts both waysNo later treatment found
  What are the time limits, forms and fees for an appeal under the Black Money Act, and where do they differ from the Income-tax Act?
  An appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) lies under s.15(1) against the amount of tax on undisclosed foreign income or assets, against liability to be assessed under the Act, against a penalty, and against a rectification order or a refusal to rectify. It is filed in Form 2 with a fee of Rs 10,000 within thirty days, and Rule 6(4) bars admission unless the tax with penalty and interest on the liability not objected to has been paid. An appeal to the Tribunal lies within sixty days in Form 3 with a fee of Rs 25,000, with cross-objections in Form 4 within thirty days. An appeal to the High Court on a substantial question of law lies within 120 days. The critical departure from the Income-tax Act is that the power to condone delay is capped: one year before the Commissioner (Appeals) under s.15(4) and one year before the Tribunal under s.18(5), where ss.249(3) and 253(5) of the Income-tax Act contain no such ceiling.
• Statutory position — ss.10 and 11 of the Black Money Act: the s.10(1) notice, the enquiry, the s.10(3) assessment and the s.10(4) best judgment assessment, and the two-year limit in s.11 with the exclusions in Explanation 1 and the one-year cap on the exchange-of-information exclusion CBDT Circulars & InstructionsCuts both waysValidity unconfirmed
  I have an assessment order under s.10(3) of the Black Money Act. The department says the limitation was extended because a request for exchange of information was pending. How long is the period, and how much can that request add to it?
  Two years, and the exchange-of-information exclusion is capped. Section 11(1) provides that no order of assessment or reassessment shall be made under s.10 after the expiry of two years from the end of the financial year in which the notice under s.10(1) was issued by the Assessing Officer. Explanation 1 to s.11 excludes, in computing that period, (i) the time taken in reopening the whole or any part of the proceeding, (ii) the period during which the assessment proceeding is stayed by an order or injunction of any court, and (iii) the period commencing from the date on which a reference or first of the references for exchange of information is made by an authority competent under an agreement referred to in s.90 or s.90A of the Income-tax Act or under s.73 of this Act and ending with the date on which the Principal Commissioner or the Commissioner last receives the information so requested "or a period of one year, whichever is less". The exclusion in clause (iii) therefore cannot add more than one year however long the request remains outstanding. A proviso to the Explanation extends the remaining period to sixty days where, after the exclusion, less than sixty days are left. On the machinery itself: s.10(1) empowers the Assessing Officer, on receipt of information from an income-tax authority or any other authority or on information coming to his notice, to serve a notice requiring production of accounts, documents or evidence on a date to be specified, and to serve further notices; s.10(2) allows him to make such enquiry as he considers necessary; s.10(3) requires him, after considering what he has obtained under s.10(1), what he has gathered under s.10(2) and any other evidence produced by the assessee, to assess or reassess by an order in writing and determine the sum payable; and s.10(4) provides that on a failure to comply with all the terms of the s.10(1) notice he shall, after taking into account all relevant material gathered and after giving the assessee an opportunity of being heard, make the assessment or reassessment to the best of his judgment and determine the sum payable.

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.