Top Stories Income Tax Reassessment Notice issued against Dead Person is Invalid: Kerala HC [Read Order] The bench believed that the assessing authority could not have jurisdiction over the initiation of an otherwise unlawful and “non-est” activity based on the parties’ permission By Yogitha S. Yogesh – On December 26, 2024 4:54 pm – 2 mins read In a recent case, the Kerala High Court held that an Income tax reassessment notice issued against a dead person is invalid, and the participation of legal heirs of the deceased in the proceedings won’t make it legal. N. Binoj, the appellants are the legal heirs of Late assessee who expired on 30.10.2021.

Notice dated 27.03.2023 was served on the address of the late assessee. On receipt of the notice, the 1st appellant appeared before the Assessing Officer and informed him about the death of the assessee. The Revenue then issued an order in the name of the deceased assessee under Clause (d) of Section 148A of the Act. Then, in the name of the deceased assessee, he also sent out a notice under Section 148 of the Act. Declaring that the assessment proceedings sought to be started under Section 147 of the Act are unsustainable, the appellant filed a writ before the High Court. But the petition was denied by the lone judge. How to Compute Income from Salary with Tax Planning, Click Here

The assessee argued that the notice issued in a deceased person’s name is invalid and that the assessment procedures intended to be started under Section 147 are unsustainable in the absence of a valid notice. According to the government, the notices given to the deceased under Sections 148A (b) and 148A of the Act are merely anomalies that are remediable. The deceased assessee’s legal heirs are prohibited from entering a different plea in the writ petition because they have already taken part in the proceedings. According to the court, notices issued in a deceased person’s name under Sections 148A(b) and 148 of the Act are void and “non-est” in the eyes of the law. It is not just an irregularity that could be fixed; it is a nullity. It is true that the appellants in this case, who were the deceased Naringaparambail Bhaskaran’s legitimate heirs, appeared before the assessing authority after receiving the aforementioned notices. But that wouldn’t alter the situation on its own.

How to Compute Income from Salary with Tax Planning, Click Here The bench believed that the assessing authority could not have jurisdiction over the initiation of an otherwise unlawful and “non-est” activity based on the parties’ permission. Since the deceased assessee’s legal heirs came before the assessing authority and took part in the proceedings, the bench disagreed with the Single Judge’s opinion that they are barred from taking a different stance in the writ petition. The Division Bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and K.V. Jayakumar observed that the initiation of proceedings against a dead person under Sections 148A (b) and 148 of the Income Tax Act are illegal and ‘non-est’. The court allowed the appeal