13. Amendment to the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 40A of the Income-tax Act
13.1 Clause (a) of sub-section (3) of Section 40A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 provides that any expenditure incurred in respect of which payment is made in a sum exceeding Rs.20,000/- otherwise than by an account payee cheque drawn on a bank or by an account payee bank draft, shall not be allowed as a deduction. Clause (b) of sub-section (3) of section 40A also provides for deeming a payment as profits and gains of business or profession if the expenditure is incurred in a particular year but the payment is made in any subsequent year in a sum exceeding Rs. 20,000/- otherwise than by an account payee cheque or by an account payee bank draft. However, the provisions of this section are subject to exceptions as provided in Rule 6DD of the Income-tax Rules, 1962.
13.2 Sub-section (3) of section 40A is an anti tax-evasion measure. By requiring payments to be made by an account payee instrument, it is possible to verify the genuineness of the transaction. Thereby the risk of evasion is substantially mitigated. Field formations have reported that assessees tend to circumvent the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 40A by splitting a particular high value payment to one person into several cash payments, each below Rs. 20,000/-. This splitting is also resorted to for payments made in the course of a single day. The courts have approved such splitting by interpreting the words ‘in a sum’ used in the section to mean a single sum thereby applying the limit to each transaction. This interpretation is against the legislative intent and has, consequently, adversely affected the efficacy of this antiabuse provision.
13.3 Therefore, the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 40A have been amended providing that the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 40A shall also be attracted where the aggregate of payments made to a single party otherwise than by an account payee cheque drawn on a bank or account payee bank draft exceeds twenty thousand rupees in a day.
13.4 Applicability: This amendment has been made applicable with effect from 1st April, 2009 and shall accordingly apply for assessment year 2009-10 and subsequent assessment years.
Note: Extract taken from Explanatory Notes to The Provisions of the Finance Act, 2008 vide circular no. 1/ 2009, dated 27th Mar, 2009.
