Voluntary Disclosure of Income and Wealth Act, 1976

14. Disclosure of income in cases of search and seizure.-

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, where any books of account, other documents, money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable articles or things belonging to a person have been seized as a result of a search under section 132 of the Income-tax Act or section 37A of the Wealth-tax Act and such person (hereafter in this section referred to as the declarant) makes, on or after the date of commencement of this Act but before the 1st day of January, 1976, a declaration in accordance with sub-section (2) in respect of any income relating to the previous year in which such search was made or any earlier previous year

(a) for which he has failed to furnish a return under section 139 of the Income-tax Act, or

(b) which he has failed to disclose in a return of income furnished by him under the Income-tax Act before the commencement of this Act, or

(c) which has escaped assessment by reason of the omission or failure on the part of such person to make a return under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (11 of 1922), or the Income-tax Act, or to disclose fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment or otherwise, then, notwithstanding anything contained in any of the Acts mentioned in sub-section (1), of section 8 or the Wealth-tax Act, the amount of income so declared or, as the case may be, the value of the assets representing such income, shall not be taken into account for the purposes of-

(i) payment of interest by the declarant, under sub-section (8) of section 139 of the Income-tax Act;

(ii) payment of interest by the declarant under section 215 or section 217 of the Income-tax Act or the corresponding provisions of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (11 of 1922);

(iii) imposition of penalty on the declarant under the provisions of any of the said Acts, except under section 221 of the Income-tax Act or the corresponding provisions of any of the other said Acts; and

(iv) prosecution of the declarant under the provisions of any of the said Acts.

(2) The declaration under sub-section (1) shall be made to the Commissioner and shall be in such form and shall be verified in such manner as may be prescribed by rules made by the Board.

(3) A declaration under this section shall be signed by the person specified Item No. sub-section (2) of section 4 as if the declaration had been made under that section.

(4) A copy of the declaration made by the declarant under sub-section (1) shall be forwarded by the Commissioner to the Income-tax Officer and the information contained therein may be taken into account for the purposes of the proceedings relating to the assessment or reassessment of the income of the declarant under the provisions of any of the Acts mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 8 or the Wealth-tax Act.

(5) The immunity provided under sub-section (1) shall not be available to the declarant unless the tax chargeable in respect of the income of the previous year or years for which the declaration has been made is paid by the declarant in accordance with the provisions in section 5.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-section, tax chargeable in respect of the income of any previous year for which the declaration is made shall be,--

(a) where the declarant has not furnished a return in respect of the total income of that year and no assessment has been made in respect of the total income of that year, the tax payable on the income declared under sub-section (1) for that year as if such income were the total income;

(b) where the declarant has furnished a return in respect of the total income of that year and no assessment has been made in pursuance of such return, the tax payable on the aggregate of the total income returned and the income declared under sub-section (1) for that year as if such aggregate were the total income, as reduced by the tax payable on the basis of the total income returned; and

(c) where an assessment in respect of the total income of that year has been made, the tax payable on the aggregate of the total income as assessed and the income declared under sub-section (1) for that year as if such aggregate were the total income, as reduced by the tax payable on the basis of the total income as assessed.

(6) Where any tax is paid by the declarant in accordance with the provisions of section 5, read with sub-section (5) of this section, credit therefor shall be given to the declarant in the assessment made under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (11 of 1922), or, as the case may be, the Income-tax Act, in respect of his total income of the previous year or years.

(7) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply in relation to any income which has been included in the total income of the declarant in any assessment made by the Income-tax Officer before the date on which the declaration under that sub-section is made.

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