Once an assessee has passed away, no valid assessment or reassessment can be carried out in their name
In a recent decision, the Mumbai ITAT ruled that any notice issued under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, against a deceased individual is legally invalid. In the case of ACIT vs. Fakhruddin Taiyebali Padaria, the tribunal upheld that once an assessee has passed away, no valid assessment or reassessment can be carried out in their name. The case involved a doctor who had passed away in 2017, after which his legal heir filed the income tax return. However, the Assessing Officer later issued a notice in the deceased’s name and treated certain cash deposits as unexplained income under Section 69A.
The Mumbai ITAT, affirming the CIT(A)’s decision, ruled that such proceedings are not legally tenable. It highlighted that the notice issued was void since no assessment can be made on a non-existent person. The ruling also referred to precedents from the Supreme Court and the Gujarat High Court, reinforcing that any assessment proceedings should be directed toward the legal representatives of the deceased under Section 159 of the Act.
With this ruling, the Revenue’s appeal was dismissed, reiterating the importance of procedural compliance in taxation matters.
The Copy Of the order is as under:
