Meaning of “Good faith”

The meaning of good faith under section 273A of the Income Tax Act is not defined in the act itself. But we can take guidance from decisions by various high courts. Here are excerpts of courts orders in which the Hon’ble High Court tried to explain the meaning of good faith.

Meaning of good faith

The phrase ‘good faith‘ used in section 273A of the Income Tax Act came up before various high courts as detailed under :

1. Hon’ble Karnataka High Court explained the meaning of ‘good faith’ while delivering judgment in Radhakrishna Vs. CIT [1980] 121 ITR 722 (KAR.) as under :

Meaning: The expression ‘good faith’ is not defined in the act, but it is defined in section 3(22) of the general clauses act, 1897, as follows : ‘a thing shall be deemed to be done in “good faith” where it is in fact done honestly, whether it is done negligently or not.’ The requirement of section 18(2a) of the 1922 act is that the full and true disclosure of the net wealth must be in good faith. If it has been done honestly, it should be considered as having been done in good faith whether or not it has been done negligently.

2. Hon’ble Bombay High Court explained the meaning of ‘good faith’ while delivering judgment in Laxman Vs. CIT [1988] 174 ITR 465 (BOM.) as under :

Meaning: The term ‘good faith’ is not defined under the act but is defined under section 3(22) of the general clauses act, 1897. Either under the general clauses act, or in ordinary parlance, an act done in good faith means an act done honestly even if it is tainted with negligence or mistake

3. Hon’ble Andhra Pradesh High Court explained the meaning of ‘good faith’ while delivering judgment in K. Ramulu & Bros. Vs. CIT [1990] 51 TAXMAN 57/185 ITR 517 (AP) as under :

Meaning: In the absence of a definition in the act, ‘good faith’ in section 273a(1) is to be interpreted as defined in the general clauses act. Thus, if the element of honesty is present the requirement of ‘good faith’ is satisfied.

4. Hon’ble Rajasthan High Court explained the meaning of ‘good faith’ while delivering judgment in Public Carriers Truck Owners’ Association Vs. CIT [1994] 76 TAXMAN 1/210 ITR 36 (RAJ.) (SMC) as under :

Meaning: Good faith’ is an orientation of honest intention and want of any deliberate attempt to mislead and would also include an act done with a bona fide belief, even if such belief is a mistaken belief.

5. Hon’ble Karnataka High Court explained the meaning of ‘good faith’ while delivering judgment in K.L. Swamy Vs. CIT [1999] 102 TAXMAN 491/239 ITR 386 (KAR.) as under :

Meaning: The expression ‘good faith’ means an act done honestly even if the same be tainted with negligence or mistake. Section 2(22) of the general clauses act, 1897 lends a similar meaning to the said expression. In order that a disclosure is termed as having been made in good faith, the same must be demonstrably honest. A disclosure which is made under the compulsion of a possible penalty or other proceedings cannot be termed honest or one made in good faith.

Section 273A of Income Tax Act

Power to reduce or waive penalty, etc., in certain cases.

273A. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Principal Commis-sioner or Commissioner may, in his discretion, whether on his own motion or otherwise,—

(i) [***]

(ii) reduce or waive the amount of penalty imposed or imposable on a person under section 270A or clause (iii) of sub-section (1) of section 271; *[or]

(iii) [***]

if he is satisfied that such person—

(a) [***]

(b) in the case referred to in clause (ii), has, prior to the detection by the Assessing Officer, of the concealment of particulars of income or of the inaccuracy of particulars furnished in respect of such income, voluntarily and in good faith, made full and true disclosure of such particulars,

(c) [***]

and also has, in the case referred to in clause (b), co-operated in any enquiry relating to the assessment of his income and has either paid or made satisfactory arrangements for the payment of any tax or interest payable in consequence of an order passed under this Act in respect of the relevant assessment year.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, a person shall be deemed to have made full and true disclosure of his income or of the particulars relating thereto in any case where the excess of income assessed over the income returned is of such a nature as not to attract the provisions of section 270A or clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 271.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1),—

(a) [***]

(b) if in a case falling under section 270A or clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 271, the amount of income in respect of which the penalty is imposed or imposable for the relevant assessment year, or, where such disclosure relates to more than one assessment year, the aggregate amount of such income for those years, exceeds a sum of five hundred thousand rupees,

no order reducing or waiving the penalty under sub-section (1) shall be made by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner except with the previous approval of the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Director General or Director General, as the case may be.

(3) Where an order has been made under sub-section (1) in favour of any person, whether such order relates to one or more assessment years, he shall not be entitled to any relief under this section in relation to any other assessment year at any time after the making of such order :

Provided that where an order has been made in favour of any person under sub-section (1) on or before the 24th day of July, 1991, such person shall be entitled to further relief only once in relation to other assessment year or years if he makes an application to the income-tax authority referred to in sub-section (4) at any time before the 1st day of April, 1992.

(4) Without prejudice to the powers conferred on him by any other provision of this Act, the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner may, on an application made in this behalf by an assessee, and after recording his reasons for so doing, reduce or waive the amount of any penalty payable by the assessee under this Act or stay or compound any proceeding for the recovery of any such amount, if he is satisfied that—

(i) to do otherwise would cause genuine hardship to the assessee, having regard to the circumstances of the case; and

(ii) the assessee has co-operated in any inquiry relating to the assessment or any proceeding for the recovery of any amount due from him:

Provided that where the amount of any penalty payable under this Act or, where such application relates to more than one penalty, the aggregate amount of such penalties exceeds one hundred thousand rupees, no order reducing or waiving the amount or compounding any proceeding for its recovery under this sub-section shall be made by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner except with the previous approval of the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Director General or Director General, as the case may be.

(4A) The order under sub-section (4), either accepting or rejecting the application in full or in part, shall be passed within a period of twelve months from the end of the month in which the application under the said sub-section is received by the Principal Commissioner or the Commissioner:

Provided that no order rejecting the application, either in full or in part, shall be passed unless the assessee has been given an opportunity of being heard:

Provided further that where any application is pending as on the 1st day of June, 2016, the order shall be passed on or before the 31st day of May, 2017.

(5) Every order made under this section shall be final and shall not be called into question by any court or any other authority.

(6) The provisions of this section as they stood immediately before their amendment by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1989 shall apply to and in relation to any assessment for the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1988, or any earlier assessment year, and references in this section to the other provisions of this Act shall be construed as references to those provisions as for the time being in force and applicable to the relevant assessment year.

(7) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (6), the provisions of sub-section (1), sub-section (2), or, as the case may be, sub-section (4) [as they stood immediately before their amendment by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1989 (3 of 1989)], shall apply in the case of reduction or waiver of penalty or interest in relation to any assessment for the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1988 or any earlier assessment year,

with the modifications that the power under the said sub-section (1) shall be exercisable only by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner and instead of the previous approval of the Board, the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner shall obtain the previous approval of the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Director General or Director General, as the case may be, while dealing with such case.

Updated up to Finance Act 2021