Jurisdictional Architecture under the income tax : Clause 241 of the Income Tax Bill, 2025 Vs. Section 120 of the Income-tax Act, 1961

Centralized jurisdiction and delegation: Board directions reallocate tax authorities' powers, shaping jurisdictional clarity and administrative flexibility.

Clause 241 vests income-tax authorities with powers exercisable in accordance with directions issued by the Board, permits higher authorities to exercise functions of lower authorities, authorizes delegated written orders for subordinates, and sets jurisdictional criteria including territorial area, persons, classes of income and cases. It enables the Board to issue general or special orders empowering specified senior officers to perform others' functions, contains deeming provisions treating references to the Assessing Officer as references to substituted officers and removes certain approval requirements, and expands notification powers to prescribe the manner of returns and designate responsible authorities.