97[Reference
to dispute resolution panel.
144C. (1) The
Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in
this Act, in the first instance, forward a draft of the proposed order of
assessment (hereafter in this section referred to as the draft order) to the
eligible assessee if he proposes to make, on or after the 1st day of October,
2009, any variation in the income or loss returned which is prejudicial to the
interest of such assessee.
(2) On
receipt of the draft order, the eligible assessee shall, within thirty days of
the receipt by him of the draft order,—
(a) file his acceptance of the variations to the
Assessing Officer; or
(b) file his objections, if any, to such variation
with,—
(i) the Dispute Resolution Panel; and
(ii) the Assessing Officer.
(3) The
Assessing Officer shall complete the assessment on the basis of the draft
order, if—
(a) the assessee intimates to the Assessing
Officer the acceptance of the variation; or
(b) no objections are received within the period
specified in sub-section (2).
(4) The
Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything contained in section 153, pass the assessment order under
sub-section (3) within one month from the end of the month in which,—
(a) the acceptance is received; or
(b) the period of filing of objections under
sub-section (2) expires.
(5) The
Dispute Resolution Panel shall, in a case where any objection is received under
sub-section (2), issue such directions, as it thinks fit, for the guidance of
the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment.
(6) The
Dispute Resolution Panel shall issue the directions referred to in sub-section
(5), after considering the following, namely:—
(a) draft order;
(b) objections filed by the assessee;
(c) evidence furnished by the assessee;
(d) report, if any, of the Assessing Officer,
Valuation Officer or Transfer Pricing Officer or any other authority;
(e) records relating to the draft order;
(f) evidence collected by, or caused to be
collected by, it; and
(g) result of any enquiry made by, or caused to
be made by, it.
(7) The
Dispute Resolution Panel may, before issuing any directions referred to in
sub-section (5),—
(a) make such further enquiry, as it thinks fit;
or
(b) cause any further enquiry to be made by any
income-tax authority and report the result of the same to it.
(8) The
Dispute Resolution Panel may confirm, reduce or enhance the variations proposed
in the draft order so, however, that it shall not set aside any proposed
variation or issue any direction under sub-section (5) for further enquiry and
passing of the assessment order.
(9) If
the members of the Dispute Resolution Panel differ in opinion on any point, the
point shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of the members.
(10)
Every direction issued by the Dispute Resolution Panel shall be binding on the
Assessing Officer.
(11) No
direction under sub-section (5) shall be issued unless an opportunity of being
heard is given to the assessee and the Assessing Officer on such directions
which are prejudicial to the interest of the assessee or the interest of the revenue,
respectively.
(12) No
direction under sub-section (5) shall be issued after nine months from the end
of the month in which the draft order is forwarded to the eligible assessee.
(13)
Upon receipt of the directions issued under sub-section (5), the Assessing
Officer shall, in conformity with the directions, complete, notwithstanding
anything to the contrary contained in section 153,
the assessment without providing any further opportunity of being heard to the
assessee, within one month from the end of the month in which such direction is
received.
(14) The
Board may make rules97a for the
purposes of the efficient functioning of the Dispute Resolution Panel and
expeditious disposal of the objections filed under sub-section (2) by the
eligible assessee.
(15) For
the purposes of this section,—
(a) “Dispute Resolution Panel” means a collegium
comprising of three Commissioners of Income-tax constituted by the Board97b for this purpose;
(b) “eligible assessee” means,—
(i) any person in whose case the variation
referred to in sub-section (1) arises as a consequence of the order of the
Transfer Pricing Officer passed under sub-section (3) of section 92CA; and
(ii) any foreign company.]