Notice u/s 143(2) sent by ordinary post by IT Dept

Venkat,

To impose penalty or not is the discretionary power of Ao is not correct. The AO will have to record reasons for initiating penalty proceedings, he must have reasonable ground for imposing the same. However, ignorance of law cannot be an excuse for non imposition of penalty. I advise you to take stand that the entire proceeding is vitiated by an invalid notice.

Your second query whether he is expecting a bribe cannot be answered because I am not sure who is the AO dealing with the case. In any case there must be some expectation from you in return for any favour from his side.

There is a procedure prescribed u/s 282 of the IT Act , 1961 to send the notice , a notice cannot be sent by general post , although it would serve the purpose .

The notice is time barred in any case

File an affidavit with the AO , once the assessee files the affidavit , the onus to prove that the notice u/s143(2) is served on time and properly ,is on the AO

Since the order is passed ( assuming u/s 144 or 143(3) ) i guess the only option is to file an appeal now with the CIT , but keep in mind sec 292BB of the IT Act , 1961 , it will go against u , So Appeal is not advised , i Guess you will have to pay up the taxes according to sec 292BB of the IT Act , 1961.

Hard luck , you should have fought before the assessment order was passed .

Sec 282 before its amendment provides for service of notice by post or like a summons under CCP 1908. It is to be noted that where the assessee argues that he has not received the notice the burden of proving its service is on the Dept as held in a case reported in 238 ITR 694. sivadas chettoor. B.COM FCA LL.M

Sec 282 before its amendment provides for service of notice by post or like a summons under CCP 1908. It is to be noted that where the assessee argues that he has not received the notice the burden of proving its service is on the Dept as held in a case reported in 238 ITR 694.

 sivadas chettoor. B.COM FCA LL.M

Mr Venkat, from the facts nerrated by you so far suggest that at no point of time, the notice u/s 143(2) was challenged by the assessee and he has complied during the assessment proceedings. Now that the AO has detected concealed income and initiated penalty proceedings, you are presuming that he is interested in bribe which is a misconception. Had it been a case, he would not have detected the concealed income from bank accounts and levied tax on the same. Now that the penalty proceedings have been initiated, he has to pass an order within six months which is time allowed as per law.

 

As far as other points raised by my learned friends on this board regarding validity of notice is concerned, I submit that they are all valid in case assessee had contested the notice itself during the assessment proceedings as his first defene. Besides the facts nerrated by Mr Venkat are not complete regarding actual date of filing of return and how the asessee came to know about the proceedings u/s 143(2) if he did not receive the notice. To the best of my knowledge, all scrutiny notices are served through registered post at the last known address as per records.