Report No. 12

241. Tax Clearance Certificate.-

(1) Subject to such exceptions as may be made by the Central Government, no person who is not domiciled in India, or who, even if domiciled in India at the time of his departure, has, in the opinion of an Income-tax authority, no intention of returning to India, shall leave the territory of India by land, sea or air unless he first obtains from such authority as may be appointed by the Central Government in this behalf (hereinafter in the section referred to as the "competent authority") a certificate stating that he has no liabilities under this Act, the Excess Profits Tax Act, 1940 (15 of 1940), or the Business Profits Tax Act, 1947 (21 of 1947), or the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (11 of 1922), or that satisfactory arrangements have been made for the payment of all or any of such taxes which are or may become payable by that person:

Provided that if the competent authority is satisfied that such person intends to return to India, he may issue an exemption certificate either in respect of a single journey or in respect of all journeys to be undertaken by that person within such period as may be specified in the certificate.

[Section 46A(1)]

(2) If the owner or charterer of any ship or aircraft carrying persons from any place in the territory of India to any place outside India allows any person to whom sub-section (1) applies, to travel by such ship or aircraft without first satisfying himself that such person is in possession of a certificate as required by that sub-section, he shall be personally liable to pay the whole or any part of the amount of tax, if any, payable by such person as the Income-tax Officer may, having regard to the circumstances of the case; determine.

[Section 46A(2), main para.]

(3) In respect of any sum payable by the owner or charterer of any ship or aircraft under sub-section (2), the owner or charterer, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be an assessee in default for such sum, and such sum shall be recoverable from him in the manner provided in sections 230 to 240 [all sections, including section: for interest, relating to recovery] as if it were an arrear of tax.

[Section 46A(3)]

(4) The owner or charterer of every ship or aircraft, which takes passengers on board on any port or place in India for any place outside India, shall, within one month from the departure of the ship or the aircraft from that port or place, furnish to the Commissioner having jurisdiction over the area in which that port or place is situated, a list in the prescribed form showing the name and last known address in India of every person (other than members of the crew and the staff of the ship or aircraft) who travelled on the ship or aircraft and the particulars of the certificate or the exemption certificate presented by such person under this section.

(5) No proceedings shall be commenced for enforcing the liability under sub-section (2) after the expiry of two years from the date on which the list required to be filed under sub-section (4) is filed.

(6) The Central Government may make rules for regulating any matter necessary for, or incidental to, the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section.

[Section 46A(4)]

Explanation.-For the purposes of this section, the expressions "owner" and "charterer" include any representative, agent or employee empowered by the owner or charterer to allow persons to travel by the ship or aircraft.

[Section 46A(2), Explanation]