Section 192 — Tax in case of block assessment of search cases. Successor to s.113 of the 1961 Act.
Section 192 is in Chapter XIII — Determination of Tax in Special Cases, which runs from section 190 to section 235.
Sub-section (1) charges the total undisclosed income of the block period, as determined under section 294, to tax at 60%, and does so irrespective of anything in any other provision of the Act. Sub-section (2) provides that this tax is to be increased by a surcharge, if any, levied by a Central Act. The section supplies only the rate; the income it is applied to is arrived at elsewhere.
It fixes a single flat rate for undisclosed income found in a search case, displacing the slab or ordinary rates that would otherwise apply, and the non obstante opening ensures no other provision of the Act can bring the rate down.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate of tax on total undisclosed income of the block period | 60% | On the total undisclosed income of the block period as determined under section 294, irrespective of any other provision of the Act | 192(1) |
| Surcharge on that tax | As levied by a Central Act, if any | The section fixes no surcharge rate of its own; it depends on the relevant Central Act for the year | 192(2) |
Once the block assessment determines undisclosed income under section 294, the tax on it is a flat 60% — no slab, no basic exemption, no lower rate from anywhere else in the Act. On top of that comes whatever surcharge a Central Act levies, so the effective figure is not 60% and cannot be worked out from this section alone. The section says nothing about interest or penalty; it is only the rate provision for the block assessment.
A search leads to a block assessment in which the total undisclosed income of the block period is determined under section 294 at Rs. 12 crore. Sub-section (1) charges the whole of it at 60% — Rs. 7.2 crore — irrespective of the slab or other rates that would otherwise have applied and irrespective of anything else in the Act. That is not the whole liability: sub-section (2) adds the surcharge levied by the Central Act for the year, and this section fixes no surcharge rate of its own. Nothing here decides what counts as undisclosed income or how the block period runs — move the section 294 figure and the tax moves with it.
In the block assessment order made after a search, where the section 294 determination is converted into tax, and then in the notice of demand that follows it. It is a rate provision only, so an argument about the amount belongs to section 294 and an argument about the surcharge to the relevant Central Act, not here.
the total undisclosed income of the block period, determined under section 294 shall be chargeable to tax at the rate of 60%
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.
