Section 415 of the Income-tax Act, 2025

Where this section sits

Section 415 is in Chapter XIX — Collection and Recovery of Tax, which runs from section 390 to section 430.

← Section 414  ·  Section 416 →

What this section does

Sub-section (1) lets the Tax Recovery Officer grant time for payment of any tax, and requires him to stay recovery proceedings for that tax until the time granted expires. Sub-section (2) deals with a certificate already drawn up where the demand is later reduced because the underlying order has been modified in an appeal or other proceeding: if that order is the subject of a further proceeding, the officer must stay recovery of the part of the certificate amount relating to the reduction while the proceeding is pending, and if the order has become final and conclusive he must amend or cancel the certificate.

Why it is there

It keeps the recovery certificate in step with the demand it enforces, so a taxpayer is not pursued for an amount an appellate authority has already knocked out, while preserving the certificate for the balance until the litigation ends.

Who it applies to

• The Tax Recovery Officer
• An assessee against whom a certificate has been drawn up and whose demand has been reduced on appeal or in another proceeding

What this means in practice

Two distinct reliefs sit here. The first is a time extension: where the officer grants time to pay, the stay of recovery for that tax follows automatically for that period. The second is automatic in a different sense — once an appellate or other order reduces the demand, the officer must either stay recovery of the reduced part while further proceedings run, or amend or cancel the certificate once the order is final, so producing the appellate order to the Tax Recovery Officer is the practical step. Note the stay under sub-section (2)(a) covers only the part of the certificate amount that corresponds to the reduction; the rest remains recoverable.

An example

A certificate is drawn up for Rs. 2 crore and the demand is later reduced to Rs. 60 lakh when the underlying order is modified in appeal, the matter going on to a further proceeding. The Tax Recovery Officer must stay recovery of the Rs. 1.40 crore that pertains to the reduction while that proceeding is pending — but only that part, the Rs. 60 lakh remaining recoverable under the same certificate. Once the order that was the subject-matter of the appeal becomes final and conclusive, the certificate is amended down or cancelled. Separately, where the officer grants time to pay under sub-section (1), recovery of that tax is stayed until the time granted expires and no longer.

Where you meet this section

In recovery proceedings before the Tax Recovery Officer on a certificate already drawn up — producing the appellate or other order to him is the step that sets sub-section (2) working. The section names the Tax Recovery Officer and no form.

The words themselves

What people get wrong

• Expecting a full stay after a partial appellate success. Sub-section (2)(a) stays only such part of the certificate amount as pertains to the reduction.
• Assuming the certificate is automatically cancelled on any reduction. Amendment or cancellation under clause (b) follows only once the order that was the subject-matter of the appeal or other proceeding has become final and conclusive.
• Treating the sub-section (1) stay as open-ended. It runs only till the expiry of the time granted for payment.

What this replaced

• 225 - Stay of proceedings in pursuance of certificate and amendment or cancellation thereof

See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.