Section 148(1) of the Income Tax Act
Income-tax Act, 2025: s.280
Section 148(1) falls under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which corresponds to section 280 (Issue of notice where income has escaped assessment) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Read section 280 of the 2025 Act
Correspondence checked against the ICAI tabular mapping of the two Acts and the BharatTax.co section commentary.
The decision most relied on for Section 148(1) is Dr. Shashi Kant Garg v. CIT (285 ITR 158), cited in 42 of the 38 judgments on BharatTax that turn on this section.
Leading authorities on Section 148(1)
Reassessment proceedings initiated by a notice under Section 148 are invalid if the requisite sanction or approval under Section 151 is not obtained from the proper competent authority. This fundamental defect is substantive and cannot be cured.
Failure to serve a valid notice under Section 148 renders reassessment proceedings void and without jurisdiction. The issuance and proper service of such a notice are fundamental prerequisites for the Assessing Officer's authority to reassess income.
The Assessing Officer (AO) is not required to prove that share money originated from the assessee's own funds; Section 68 of the Income Tax Act does not place such a burden on the AO.
Service of notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act is mandatory and a condition precedent for initiating reassessment proceedings. Failure to serve the notice renders the reassessment proceedings a nullity, and this defect cannot be cured by the assessee's appearance in response to a notice under Section 142(1).
