WAIVER OR REDUCTION OF INTEREST ORDER OF 2006

Waiver or reduction of interest: discretionary relief when return is filed and tax paid, subject to prescribed conditions.

The Order empowers the Chief Commissioner of Income-tax and the Director General of Income-tax to grant a waiver or reduction of interest under specified provisions where the assessee has filed the return for the relevant year and paid the entire income-tax, subject to conditions. Relief is available in cases of delay due to search and seizure, unforeseen non-capital income paid in later instalments, retrospective changes in taxability leading to advance-tax shortfall, and voluntary filing after unavoidable delay; waiver for late filing is confined to the search/seizure and voluntary-filing situations. Earlier related instructions are superseded and past petitions may be reconsidered.