Delay of 229 days condoned; reassessment notice for AY 2015-16 held time-barred and quashed

5-Second Takeaway

The delay of 229 days was condoned because the assessee, a homemaker dependent on her husband for tax matters, showed sufficient cause after he was continuously hospitalised and later died. The reassessment notice under section 148 for AY 2015-16, issued on 11 April 2022, was held barred by limitation, so the reassessment order under section 147 read with sections 144 and 144B was quashed.

The Tribunal first dealt with the delayed appeal. It accepted the assessee’s explanation that she was a homemaker with limited knowledge of income-tax proceedings and that her husband, who handled her tax affairs, had been seriously ill, was continuously hospitalised, and later expired. On that basis, the delay of 229 days was found neither deliberate nor lacking in bona fides.

The appeal was therefore admitted in the interest of substantial justice. The Tribunal then examined the reassessment challenge for assessment year 2015-16.

It held that the notice under section 148, issued on 11 April 2022, was beyond limitation for that assessment year. Since the reassessment proceedings were time-barred, the action initiated under section 147 could not stand.

Accordingly, the reassessment order passed under section 147 read with sections 144 and 144B was quashed.