ACTION BY THE ASSESSING OFFICER

• In respect of an existing tax payer the Assessing Officer is required to :
  
  (a) Verify if there are any tax demands still due and issue an authorisation to him in Form 32. This authorisation will enable him to get a proper Tax Clearance Certificate from the A.C./I.T.O. Foreign Section who is the competent authority to issue it. It is advisable to take necessary proof of all the tax payments to your Assessing Officer to facilitate such a verification.
  
  (b) In a case where there are tax dues, the Assessing Officer may still issue an Authorisation in Form No. 32 if the tax payer has made satisfactory arrangement for the payment of these taxes.
  
  The Assessing Officer may in such a case by way of satisfactory arrangement ask the taxpayer to obtain an enforceable guarantee from a third party for payment of all his tax liability.
  
  If the guarantee is given by a company or any institution, it has to be ensured that it is signed by the person authorised for this purpose.
  
  
• In the case of a person who is not an existing taxpayer, the assessing officer will verify the person's statement regarding his income and attempt to ascertain if he has been earning any income which is liable to tax.
  
  For this purpose, the assessing officer may order local enquiries to be made or record a statement from the person or ask for any evidence to prove that the person has no income which is liable to tax.A sworn affidavit may also be insisted upon.

One of the methods for ensuring that satisfactory arrangements have been made for the payments of such taxes is by way of obtaining a guarantee from the employer of the person leaving the country that if any tax is found due it will be paid by the employer (guarantor). Under the existing procedure the guarantee tendered by the guarantor ceases to be operative three months after the return of the employee to India if and only if the assessee remains in India during the said period of three months and the guarantor give prompt notice to the Assessing Officer concerned of the employees', return to India.

If the applicant earns any income liable to tax in India,the Assessing Officer computes his tax liability. On the payment of the tax due on the income, the clearance certificate is issued . Where no income liable to tax is earned in India, the A.C./I.T.O. (Foreign Section) obtains a declaration from the person concerned that he has not earned any taxable income in India during his stay.