Comparison of section 256 "Power of certain income-tax authorities." between the Income-Tax Act, 2025 (as passed) and the Income-Tax Bill, 2025 (as originally introduced)

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....tutes a generic "competent authority" with an explicit list of specified offices. Affected parties include taxpayers, departmental officers, and tax practitioners. Effective date or decision date: Not stated in the document. Background & Scope Statutory hooks: The provision is located as Clause 256 in the Income Tax Bill, 2025 (Old Version) and as Section 256 in the Income-tax Act, 2025 (enacted). Context: Both texts aim to empower higher authorities within the income-tax administration to make enquiries under the Act and to furnish those authorities with the same powers as an Assessing Officer for purposes of making enquiries. Coverage: making of enquiries under the Act by specified/competent authorities. Definitions or explanatory langu....

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....cers of the tax department to initiate and conduct enquiries with the procedural and substantive powers that an Assessing Officer possesses. The Bill's explanatory sentence indicates an intent to vest Assessing Officer-type powers in "higher authorities." The enacted section's specificity suggests an intent to identify clearly which tiers of officers are intended to wield such powers. Exceptions/Provisos Not stated in the document. The provision contains no express exceptions, provisos, territorial limitations, or procedure-specific constraints within the clause itself. Illustrations * Example 1: A Principal Commissioner reviews a case and initiates an enquiry into a taxpayer's transactions using summons powers that Assessi....

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.... several senior grades (including Joint Commissioner) are explicitly empowered. This clarity aids departmental assignment of tasks and gives taxpayers a known class of officers who may make enquiries; where the Bill is silent about identity, administrative instruments or rules would have been needed to identify the "competent authority." * Scope of empowered officers: The enacted Section both expands clarity and possibly narrows wider administrative discretion (since only the listed ranks are mentioned). * Practical impact: If the Bill's intent was to permit any "competent authority" designated u/rs or orders (potentially broader), the enacted Section limits competence to specific established ranks, which may prevent ad hoc delegati....

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.... powers, the textual basis for that exercise is not apparent from Section 256 alone (further authorisation would need to be checked elsewhere; Not stated in the document whether such authorisation exists). * Record-keeping/evidence: Since the provision confers Assessing Officer-like powers for enquiries, records typically used in AO enquiries (summons, inspection notes, communications, responses) will be relevant. Specific procedural requirements for exercising powers, timelines, or forms are Not stated in the document. * Administrative effect: The explicit rank list allows departments to designate internal workflows and allocate enquiry responsibilities to the named grades without relying on separate delegations for those ranks. Any re....