Comparison of section 261 "Interpretation." between the Income-Tax Act, 2025 (as passed) and the Income-Tax Bill, 2025 (as originally introduced)

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....nt. Background & Scope Statutory hooks: Clause 261 sits in Chapter XIV (as the note indicates) of the Income Tax Bill, 2025. It supplies definitions of expressions used for the purposes of the Chapter that regulates powers (search, requisition and related procedural mechanisms). The clause lists definitional meanings for "approving authority," "asset," "authorised officer," "competent authority," "computer system," "date on which the last of the authorisations for search was executed," "material seized," "proceeding" and "virtual digital space." The text provides definitions but no express legislative history or policy rationale. Any statutory cross-references explicitly stated are to section 247 and section 248 (for search and requisitio....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....; * (ii) in case of requisition u/s 248, the date of actual receipt of books, documents or assets by the requisitioning officer. * Material seized: defined expansively to include books of account, other documents, digital data storage devices, computer systems and extracts seized during searches u/s 247 or requisition u/s 248; explicitly mentions backups from specialised programmes and electronic records (tally, excel, word files) and says such material "shall be construed to mean as book of accounts maintained by the said person." * Proceeding: covers any proceeding in respect of any year whether under the Income-tax Act, 1961 or under this Act that may be pending on the date of authorisation of a search/requisition or completed on o....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....takes physical custody of a server containing transaction logs on a stated date, the "date on which the last of the authorisations for search was executed" (for purposes of related provisions) would be the date of actual receipt of that server (as "assets"). * An online trading account held on a digital application platform falls within "virtual digital space" and accordingly may be captured by definitions of assets or material when relevant to a search/requisition. Interplay The clause expressly references sections 247 and 248 as the operative powers under which material may be seized or requisitioned. It cross-links to the Income-tax Act, 1961 in defining "proceeding." The provision states that electronic backups and specialised progr....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....ical impact: the Act clarifies that requisitioned material is explicitly included and equates seized electronic material to books of accounts, potentially broadening evidentiary reach and supporting treatment of electronic extracts as formal books; the Bill's framing is marginally narrower or less explicit on that declaratory equivalence. * Inclusion of "electronic form" and "electronic record" cross-references: The Act (Document 1) contains specific sub-clauses (g) and (h) that adopt terms from the Information Technology Act, 2000; the Bill (Document 2) does not include corresponding sub-clauses labelled (g) and (h) for those exact cross-references (in the Bill numbering, (g) is used for "material seized" and (h) for "proceeding"). ....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....es, digital or electronic data storage devices" and again includes "virtual digital space." * Practical impact: differences are largely stylistic; both convey a broad technological reach. The Act's inclusion of "virtual digital space" in the computer system clause and as a separate defined term strengthens the capture of cloud and online environments. * Requisition wording in definition of the date on which last authorisation was executed: The Bill's clause (f)(ii) refers to "actual receipt of the books of account or other documents or assets by the requisitioning officer"; the Act's clause (f)(ii) expands that to "books of account or other documents or computer system or assets." * Practical impact: the Act's explicit....