Unaccounted / unexplained income -Section 115BBE Income Tax Applicability

By | November 18, 2016
(Last Updated On: November 28, 2016)

Unaccounted / unexplained income -Section 115BBE of Income Tax Act – Applicability

The provisions of section 115BBE of Income Tax Act (India) are as under:

♦             The Finance Act, 2012 inserted section 115BBE in the Income-Tax Act (‘the Act’) to tax unaccounted money represented by the additions covered by sections 68, 69, 69A, 69B, 69C and 69D at flat 30% without any deductions or basic threshold exemption limit.

Sections 68 to 69D contemplate additions for unaccounted/unexplained income detected by the AO during search or survey or scrutiny. This is clear from the words “where any sum is found credited in the books of an assessee”(section 68), “Where in any financial year the asssessee is found to be the owner of any money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable article”(section69A)

♦             Section 115BBE provides that where the total income of an assessee includes any income referred to in section 68, section 69, section 69A, section 69B, section 69C or section 69D, the income-tax payable shall be the aggregate of— (a)the amount of income-tax calculated on income referred to in section 68, section 69, section 69A, section 69B, section 69C or section 69D, at the rate of thirty per cent; and (b)the amount of income-tax with which the assessee would have been chargeable had his total income been reduced by the amount of income referred to in clause (a).

♦             Section 115BBE further provides that notwithstanding anything contained in the Act, no deduction in respect of any expenditure or allowance shall be allowed to the assessee under any provision of the Act in computing his income referred to in (a) above.

♦             Section 115BBE was enacted “In order to curb the practice of laundering of unaccounted money by taking advantage of basic exemption limit”

Section 115BBE can be invoked only by AO and cannot be invoked by assessee to show huge cash deposits in bank as income in ITR at special tax rate of 30% under Section 115BBE.

Section – 115BBE, Income-tax Act, 1961

1 Tax on income referred to in section 68 or section 69 or section 69A or section 69B or section 69C or section 69D.

115BBE. (1) Where the total income of an assessee includes any income referred to in section 68, section 69, section 69A, section 69B, section 69C or section 69D, the income-tax payable shall be the aggregate of—

(a)the amount of income-tax calculated on income referred to in section 68, section 69, section 69A, section 69B, section 69C or section 69D , at the rate of thirty per cent; and
(b)the amount of income-tax with which the assessee would have been chargeable had his total income been reduced by the amount of income referred to in clause (a).

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, no deduction in respect of any expenditure or allowance 2[or set off of any loss] shall be allowed to the assessee under any provision of this Act in computing his income referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (1).]


1 Inserted by the Finance Act, 2012, w.e.f. 1-4-2013.

2 The italicised words shall be inserted by the Finance Act, 2016, w.e.f. 1-4-2017.

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