Failure to furnish tax returns: criminal penalties with tiered custody and limited safe harbour for late filing. Criminal liability is imposed for wilful failure to furnish a required return of income, with a two-tiered custodial and fine regime linked to the amount of tax evaded. A limited bar to prosecution exists where the return is subsequently furnished within the procedural time references or, for non-companies, where the residual tax shortfall after qualifying payments falls below a de minimis threshold. The scope of the safe harbour depends on the timing rules in the cross referenced procedural subsection.
Wilful attempt to evade tax: criminalises deliberate falsification and omissions, with tiered imprisonment and fines. Section 478 criminalises a wilful attempt to evade tax and wilful under reporting by prescribing tiered rigorous imprisonment and fines, and it lists illustrative acts-false entries, omissions, possession of falsified books and conduct enabling evasion. The Act relocates and rephrases fine and penalty preservation language into a standalone non prejudice clause and tightens causation wording in an illustrative sub clause. Definitions of key terms and procedural or evidentiary standards are not provided in the text.
Failure to remit tax collected at source criminalised, exposing collectors to imprisonment and fine; exception for timely remittance. Failure to remit to Government the tax collected at source is a penal offence punishable by imprisonment and fine, targeting persons who collect tax at source and imposing personal liability for payment to Government credit. A narrow temporal exception excludes application where payment has been made on or before the time prescribed for filing the relevant statement, and the provision contains no mitigating grounds, mens rea gradation, or procedural compounding mechanisms.
Failure to remit withheld tax attracts criminal liability including imprisonment and fine; safe harbour if credited before filing deadline. Failure to remit taxes deducted under Chapter XIX-B or required by specified Notes to the Table in section 393 constitutes a criminal offence punishable by rigorous imprisonment and fine; the offence applies where a person fails to pay amounts to the credit of the Central Government, subject to a temporal safe harbour if payment is made or credited on or before the time prescribed for filing the relevant statement.
Fraudulent disposition of property to frustrate tax execution now criminalised, tied specifically to a certificate drawn under section 413. The offence criminalises anyone who fraudulently removes, conceals, transfers or delivers any property or interest therein with intent to prevent such property or interest from being taken in execution of a certificate drawn u/s 413; punishment is rigorous imprisonment up to two years and a fine. The enacted text replaces the Bill's broader "as prescribed" formulation with a direct reference to section 413, clarifying the instrument whose execution the offence seeks to frustrate. The clause contains no exceptions, definitions of "fraudulently," or evidentiary rules.
Reasonable cause defence prevents penalties when a taxpayer proves it, expanding protection in the enacted provision. Section 470 bars imposition of penalties under the listed provisions where a person or assessee proves there was reasonable cause for the failure; it frames the exception as prevailing irrespective of anything in those provisions and places the burden of proof on the person, while not defining "reasonable cause" or prescribing standards, procedures, or timing for such proof.
Discretionary penalty waiver: voluntary pre-detection disclosure and cooperation enable administrative leniency, subject to prior approval thresholds and safeguards. Section 469 empowers the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner to reduce or waive penalties under section 439 where there is voluntary, pre detection disclosure, good faith cooperation and payment or satisfactory arrangements for tax and interest; sub section (2) contains a deeming rule for "full and true disclosure." Prior approval from a specified senior authority is required where multi year income/disclosure crosses the statutory threshold or where aggregate penalties to be waived under the hardship route exceed the threshold; once discretionary relief is granted for a person no further relief is available for other tax years. Procedural safeguards and a twelve month disposal timeline apply.
Tax penalties for procedural non-compliance impose fixed and daily monetary sanctions and designate imposing authorities by statute. Clause 465 distinguishes fixed penalties for discrete refusals or omissions from continuing daily penalties for delays or failures to furnish returns, statements, certificates or allow inspections, caps certain penalties by reference to deductible or collectible tax, allocates specified income tax officers to impose such penalties, and defines "income tax authority"; it cross references multiple substantive provisions and contains no express procedural safeguards, appeal route, or mitigation mechanism.
Penalty for non-furnishing by eligible investment funds may be imposed as a fixed sanction for late or missing reports. The provision authorises the prescribed income tax authority to direct an eligible investment fund to pay a fixed penalty of five lakh rupees where the fund fails to furnish a required statement, information or document within the time prescribed under the referenced provision; the sanction is discretionary and the text contains no exceptions, mitigation procedures or notice stages in the extract provided.
Penalty for inaccurate financial statements made mandatory; reporting institutions face per-account liability and recovery rights from account-holders. Section 455 imposes a fixed penalty on persons required to furnish statements under section 508(1) for inaccurate information, failure to correct within the period under section 508(8), or non-compliance with due diligence under section 508(9). It also imposes an additional per-account liability on reporting financial institutions where inaccuracies arise from false or inaccurate information furnished by account-holders, and entitles institutions to recover or retain amounts paid from those account-holders. The provision cross-references section 508 and does not set out adjudicatory or appeal procedures.
Penalty for failure to provide electronic payment facilities imposes strict daily liability and removes statutory exception to avoid sanction. The provision imposes a continuing daily monetary penalty, to be levied by the Assessing Officer, for failure to provide facilities to accept payments through prescribed electronic modes; the Bill included a proviso allowing avoidance of the penalty on proof of good and sufficient reason, but the enacted text omits that proviso, leaving key definitions, evidentiary standards, and procedural modalities unspecified.
Penalty for failure to comply: Assessing Officer may impose monetary penalty equal to sums received unless recipient proves good reasons. Section 451 authorises the Assessing Officer to impose a penalty equal to the sum received by a person in contravention of the relevant statutory provision; the earlier Bill expressly allowed escape if the recipient proved "good and sufficient reasons," but the enacted text omits that proviso, leaving the ambit of any exception, standards for evaluation, and the character of assessing discretion unspecified.
Penalty on undisclosed income: fixed levy on withholding-tax liability, with exemption for timely disclosure and payment. A discretionary penalty applies where assessed income includes categories of unexplained or undisclosed receipts imported by reference to existing provisions; it is levied as a percentage of the tax payable under the withholding-tax provision, is additional to that tax, is not imposed if the income was included in the return and the withholding tax paid within the relevant year, and cannot be duplicated by another penalty for the same income. The enacted text omits an explicit cross-application of existing procedural penalty machinery, creating procedural uncertainty.
Penalty for under-reporting: statutory regime imposing enhanced sanctions for deliberate misreporting and rules for computing tax on additions. Clause 439 creates a penalty regime for under reporting and aggravated misreporting during tax proceedings by defining deemed under reporting events, prescribing formulae to compute under reported income (including interactions with deemed total income rules), allocating additions across years to prevent double counting, listing exceptions where penalties will not apply, enumerating aggravating misreporting acts that attract higher sanctions, and requiring that penalty be imposed by written order of the Competent Authority.
Set-off of tax refunds: authorities may offset or temporarily withhold refunds subject to written intimation and procedural safeguards. Section 438 authorises the Assessing Officer and senior Commissioners to set off refunds due against outstanding tax liabilities and to withhold refunds where assessment or reassessment proceedings are pending. Set off must follow written intimation to the taxpayer. Withholding a refund while proceedings are pending is limited in time and requires reasons recorded in writing plus prior approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner.
Interest on refunds: entitlement to monthly simple interest and additional annual interest where orders trigger refunds. Interest on refunds is payable as simple interest at a monthly rate from specified starting dates determined by refund source (tax collected at source/advance tax/treatment as paid; tax paid under specified provisions; excess payments under demand notices), with an additional annual interest where refunds follow certain appellate or rectification orders. Periods attributable to the assessee/deductor are excluded; immaterial refunds below a threshold do not attract interest for defined categories; interest is adjusted if subsequent orders change the underlying amount and assessing officers may demand excess interest.
Two-tier fee for late tax return filing: fixed higher fee for higher-income filers and capped fee for others. A statutory two tier fee applies where a person required to furnish a return within the prescribed time fails to do so. Both enacted and bill texts impose a fixed higher fee for taxpayers above the income threshold and a lower fee capped for taxpayers at or below that threshold. The enacted drafting places the capped lower fee first, preserving discretion up to the cap for lower income filers; both texts operate without prejudice to other provisions of the Act and cross reference the filing time provision. Procedural and enforcement details are not stated.
Daily fee for delayed tax statements requires prepayment before filing and is capped at the tax collectible amount. A mandatory daily fee applies where a person fails to deliver a prescribed statement of tax deducted or collected at source within the time prescribed in a cross referenced subsection; the fee accrues each day until compliance, is capped so it does not exceed the amount of tax deductible or collectible for the period, and must be paid before delivering the delayed statement, without prejudice to other liabilities under the Act.
Advance tax interest rules require instalment-specific payments; shortfalls attract staged interest and safe harbour thresholds for compliance relief. Section 425 imposes interest where advance tax instalments fall short of prescribed percentages by due dates, tying liability to tax due on the returned income. It prescribes staged instalment percentages and graduated interest on interim versus final shortfalls, provides two early safe harbour minima that eliminate interest if met, treats certain classes (profits declared under specified entries) with a distinct simple interest rule for the final instalment, and exempts shortfalls from interest for specified late arising incomes if taxed by later instalments or by 31 March.
Interest for defaults in payment of advance tax triggers monthly simple interest where advance payments fall short of assessed tax. The provision charges simple interest where a taxpayer fails to pay advance tax or pays less than the safe harbour proportion of assessed tax, starting from 1 April following the tax year until determination of total income or completion of regular assessment. Interest is computed on assessed tax or the shortfall, with the assessed tax base reduced by specified items such as tax deducted/collected at source, reliefs and eligible tax credits; reassessment or recomputation increases or reduces interest accordingly and payments already made reduce liability.
Comparison of section 515 "Appearance by authorised representative." between the Income-Tax Act, 2025 (as passed) and the Income-Tax Bill, 2025 (as originally introduced)
17 September, 2025
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Authorised representative rules limit who may represent taxpayers, set disqualification grounds, and preserve appeal rights. The provision permits an assessee to attend proceedings before income tax authorities and the Appellate Tribunal through an authorised representative ... Summary
Authorised representative rules limit who may represent taxpayers, set disqualification grounds, and preserve appeal rights.
The provision permits an assessee to attend proceedings before income tax authorities and the Appellate Tribunal through an authorised representative drawn from an enumerated list, subject to written authorisation and exclusions; personal attendance is required where examination on oath or affirmation is mandated. The definition of authorised representative and of "accountant" contains specific exceptions to prevent conflicts of interest, while disqualification rules-based on dismissal from service, insolvency, specified convictions or prior penalties-apply with procedural safeguards including opportunity to be heard and a one month appeal to the Board. Several qualifications and categories are to be determined by subordinate prescription, and transitional cross references to prior statutes determine legacy practitioner recognition.
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