My client never declared his crypto gains. Can he still put them right by an updated return, how long has he got, and what will it cost him?
An updated return under s.139(8A) may now be furnished at any time within FORTY-EIGHT months from the end of the relevant assessment year — the Finance Act 2025 substituted 'forty-eight' for 'twenty-four' with effect from 1 April 2025 — but only if none of five provisos bars it. It cannot be used at all if the updated return would be a return of a loss, or would decrease the total tax liability determined on the earlier return, or would produce or increase a refund; it cannot be used where a search under s.132, a requisition under s.132A or a survey under s.133A other than s.133A(2A) has taken place, or where seized assets or books of another person have been notified as belonging or pertaining to the assessee; and it cannot be used where an updated return has already been furnished for that year, or where ANY proceeding for assessment, reassessment, recomputation or revision is pending or has been completed for that year, or where SAFEMA, Benami, PMLA or Black Money Act information or information under a s.90 or s.90A agreement has been communicated to the assessee, or where prosecution under Chapter XXII has been initiated, or where the person is notified by the Board. A fourth proviso, inserted by the same Finance Act 2025, bars an updated return altogether where a show-cause notice under s.148A has been issued after thirty-six months from the end of the relevant assessment year, and a fifth proviso disapplies that bar where an order under s.148A(3) has determined that it is not a fit case to issue a notice under s.148. The price is set by s.140B: additional income-tax of twenty-five per cent of the aggregate of tax and interest if filed within twelve months of the end of the assessment year, fifty per cent within twenty-four months, sixty per cent within thirty-six months and seventy per cent within forty-eight months, over and above the tax, interest and fee otherwise payable.
Decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) on 2022-04-01, reported as Income-tax Act 1961, ss.139(8A) and 140B; both inserted by the Finance Act 2022 w.e.f. 1-4-2022; the twenty-four month period in s.139(8A) substituted by forty-eight months, and clauses (iii) and (iv) inserted in s.140B(3), by the Finance Act 2025 (Act No. 7 of 2025) w.e.f. 1-4-2025. It bears on section 139(8A), section 140B, section 115BBH, section 132, section 132A, section 133A of the Income Tax Act 1961, in Assessment & Scrutiny and Crypto & Virtual Digital Assets matters.
This is the route by which most undeclared VDA income is now being brought on record, and the bar that catches people is the third proviso, clause (b) — no updated return where any proceeding for assessment or reassessment or recomputation or revision is pending OR HAS BEEN COMPLETED for that year. That means a scrutiny notice under s.143(2), or a reopening notice, closes the door; and it closes it for the whole year, not merely for the issue under enquiry. The Telangana High Court applied exactly that clause in Mohammed Kaleem Ullah v Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax on 5 January 2026, dismissing a writ petition by an assessee who asked to file an updated return after his case had been picked up for scrutiny. The practical consequence for a VDA disclosure is stark: the moment the client is told an exchange has reported him, the clock is not just running, it is about to stop. The first proviso matters too, and for a different reason: because a VDA loss cannot be set off or carried forward under s.115BBH(2)(b) anyway, an updated return that seeks to bring in VDA losses will usually be barred as a return of a loss or as one decreasing tax liability, and will in any event achieve nothing. Do the s.140B arithmetic before advising: the additional tax is charged on the aggregate of tax AND interest, and by the Explanation to sub-section (3) 'tax' for this purpose includes surcharge and cess, so the real cost of a late disclosure at the outer end of the window is considerably more than seventy per cent of the tax alone. Note also that s.140B(1) and (2) require the return to be ACCOMPANIED by proof of payment; an updated return filed without paying is not a valid updated return.
Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them.
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Not a case. Section 139(8A) applies to any person, whether or not he has furnished a return under s.139(1), (4) or (5) for an assessment year; s.140B fixes the tax payable on a return furnished under it.
An updated return may be furnished at any time within forty-eight months from the end of the relevant assessment year. The first proviso excludes an updated return that is a return of a loss, or that has the effect of decreasing the total tax liability determined on the basis of the earlier return, or that results in or increases a refund. The second proviso makes a person ineligible where a search has been initiated under s.132, or books or assets requisitioned under s.132A, or a survey conducted under s.133A other than s.133A(2A), or a notice issued that money, bullion, jewellery, valuable articles, books or documents seized or requisitioned in another person's case belong or pertain to him — for the assessment year of the search, survey or requisition and every preceding assessment year. The third proviso bars an updated return where one has already been furnished for that year; where any proceeding for assessment, reassessment, recomputation or revision is pending or has been completed for that year; where information under SAFEMA 1976, the Benami Act 1988, PMLA 2002 or the Black Money Act 2015 has been communicated to him before furnishing; where information received under a s.90 or s.90A agreement has been communicated to him before furnishing; where prosecution proceedings under Chapter XXII have been initiated for that year before furnishing; or where he is a person, or of a class of persons, notified by the Board. The fourth proviso provides that no updated return shall be furnished by any person where any notice to show-cause under section 148A has been issued in his case after thirty-six months from the end of the relevant assessment year. The fifth proviso provides that the fourth proviso shall not apply where an order is passed under sub-section (3) of section 148A determining that it is not a fit case to issue notice under section 148. Under s.140B the tax, interest and fee otherwise payable must be paid before the return is furnished, with proof of payment accompanying it, together with additional income-tax of twenty-five per cent of the aggregate of tax and interest where the return is furnished within twelve months of the end of the assessment year, fifty per cent within twenty-four months, sixty per cent within thirty-six months and seventy per cent within forty-eight months; by the Explanation to sub-section (3), 'tax' for computing the additional income-tax includes surcharge and cess.
Not a judicial route. The scheme is a voluntary-compliance window bought at a price, and each of its three sets of bars answers a different objection. The first proviso keeps the window one-directional: it may only be used to pay more, never to claim a loss, reduce liability or generate a refund, so it cannot be turned into an extended revision facility. The second proviso keeps it out of the hands of those whom the department has already caught by search or survey, and does so for the search year and all earlier years together, because a search characteristically opens a block of years. The third proviso keeps it from displacing proceedings that are already under way or already over, from being used twice for the same year, and from being used by a person who already knows the department has information about him — which is why it operates by reference to information having been COMMUNICATED to him before he files. The fourth and fifth provisos, added when the window was stretched from twenty-four to forty-eight months, are the price of that stretch: Parliament was willing to give two more years only on terms that the facility closes as soon as the department has moved under s.148A, and reopens only if the department itself concludes there is no case. Section 140B then prices the facility on a rising scale tied to delay, and charges the additional tax on tax and interest together so that the cost of the delay compounds with the delay itself.
seventy per cent of aggregate of tax and interest payable, as determined in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), as the case may be, if such return is furnished after the expiry of thirty-six months from the end of the relevant assessment year but before completion of the period of forty-eight months from the end of the relevant assessment year.
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Handle my notice → Ask a CA on WhatsAppAn updated return under s.139(8A) may now be furnished at any time within FORTY-EIGHT months from the end of the relevant assessment year — the Finance Act 2025 substituted 'forty-eight' for 'twenty-four' with effect from 1 April 2025 — but only if none of five provisos bars it. It cannot be used at all if the updated return would be a return of a loss, or would decrease the total tax liability determined on the earlier return, or would produce or increase a refund; it cannot be used where a search under s.132, a requisition under s.132A or a survey under s.133A other than s.133A(2A) has taken place, or where seized assets or books of another person have been notified as belonging or pertaining to the assessee; and it cannot be used where an updated return has already been furnished for that year, or where ANY proceeding for assessment, reassessment, recomputation or revision is pending or has been completed for that year, or where SAFEMA, Benami, PMLA or Black Money Act information or information under a s.90 or s.90A agreement has been communicated to the assessee, or where prosecution under Chapter XXII has been initiated, or where the person is notified by the Board. A fourth proviso, inserted by the same Finance Act 2025, bars an updated return altogether where a show-cause notice under s.148A has been issued after thirty-six months from the end of the relevant assessment year, and a fifth proviso disapplies that bar where an order under s.148A(3) has determined that it is not a fit case to issue a notice under s.148. The price is set by s.140B: additional income-tax of twenty-five per cent of the aggregate of tax and interest if filed within twelve months of the end of the assessment year, fifty per cent within twenty-four months, sixty per cent within thirty-six months and seventy per cent within forty-eight months, over and above the tax, interest and fee otherwise payable. This was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) and bears on section 139(8A), section 140B, section 115BBH, section 132, section 132A, section 133A of the Income Tax Act 1961. It is reported as Income-tax Act 1961, ss.139(8A) and 140B; both inserted by the Finance Act 2022 w.e.f. 1-4-2022; the twenty-four month period in s.139(8A) substituted by forty-eight months, and clauses (iii) and (iv) inserted in s.140B(3), by the Finance Act 2025 (Act No. 7 of 2025) w.e.f. 1-4-2025. This is the route by which most undeclared VDA income is now being brought on record, and the bar that catches people is the third proviso, clause (b) — no updated return where any proceeding for assessment or reassessment or recomputation or revision is pending OR HAS BEEN COMPLETED for that year. That means a scrutiny notice under s.143(2), or a reopening notice, closes the door; and it closes it for the whole year, not merely for the issue under enquiry. The Telangana High Court applied exactly that clause in Mohammed Kaleem Ullah v Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax on 5 January 2026, dismissing a writ petition by an assessee who asked to file an updated return after his case had been picked up for scrutiny. The practical consequence for a VDA disclosure is stark: the moment the client is told an exchange has reported him, the clock is not just running, it is about to stop. The first proviso matters too, and for a different reason: because a VDA loss cannot be set off or carried forward under s.115BBH(2)(b) anyway, an updated return that seeks to bring in VDA losses will usually be barred as a return of a loss or as one decreasing tax liability, and will in any event achieve nothing. Do the s.140B arithmetic before advising: the additional tax is charged on the aggregate of tax AND interest, and by the Explanation to sub-section (3) 'tax' for this purpose includes surcharge and cess, so the real cost of a late disclosure at the outer end of the window is considerably more than seventy per cent of the tax alone. Note also that s.140B(1) and (2) require the return to be ACCOMPANIED by proof of payment; an updated return filed without paying is not a valid updated return. If it applies to you, the first step is this: Check all five provisos in order before you promise the client anything — first proviso (loss, decrease in liability, refund), second proviso (search, requisition, survey, notices about another person's seized assets or books), third proviso (earlier updated return, pending or completed proceeding, specified-law information, treaty information, prosecution, notified person), fourth proviso (a s.148A show-cause notice issued after thirty-six months from the end of the assessment year), fifth proviso (which lifts the fourth where an order under s.148A(3) has held it not a fit case for a s.148 notice).
Not a case. Section 139(8A) applies to any person, whether or not he has furnished a return under s.139(1), (4) or (5) for an assessment year; s.140B fixes the tax payable on a return furnished under it. The matter was decided on 2022-04-01 by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text). On those facts the CBDT Circulars & Instructions held as follows. An updated return may be furnished at any time within forty-eight months from the end of the relevant assessment year. The first proviso excludes an updated return that is a return of a loss, or that has the effect of decreasing the total tax liability determined on the basis of the earlier return, or that results in or increases a refund. The second proviso makes a person ineligible where a search has been initiated under s.132, or books or assets requisitioned under s.132A, or a survey conducted under s.133A other than s.133A(2A), or a notice issued that money, bullion, jewellery, valuable articles, books or documents seized or requisitioned in another person's case belong or pertain to him — for the assessment year of the search, survey or requisition and every preceding assessment year. The third proviso bars an updated return where one has already been furnished for that year; where any proceeding for assessment, reassessment, recomputation or revision is pending or has been completed for that year; where information under SAFEMA 1976, the Benami Act 1988, PMLA 2002 or the Black Money Act 2015 has been communicated to him before furnishing; where information received under a s.90 or s.90A agreement has been communicated to him before furnishing; where prosecution proceedings under Chapter XXII have been initiated for that year before furnishing; or where he is a person, or of a class of persons, notified by the Board. The fourth proviso provides that no updated return shall be furnished by any person where any notice to show-cause under section 148A has been issued in his case after thirty-six months from the end of the relevant assessment year. The fifth proviso provides that the fourth proviso shall not apply where an order is passed under sub-section (3) of section 148A determining that it is not a fit case to issue notice under section 148. Under s.140B the tax, interest and fee otherwise payable must be paid before the return is furnished, with proof of payment accompanying it, together with additional income-tax of twenty-five per cent of the aggregate of tax and interest where the return is furnished within twelve months of the end of the assessment year, fifty per cent within twenty-four months, sixty per cent within thirty-six months and seventy per cent within forty-eight months; by the Explanation to sub-section (3), 'tax' for computing the additional income-tax includes surcharge and cess.
Not a judicial route. The scheme is a voluntary-compliance window bought at a price, and each of its three sets of bars answers a different objection. The first proviso keeps the window one-directional: it may only be used to pay more, never to claim a loss, reduce liability or generate a refund, so it cannot be turned into an extended revision facility. The second proviso keeps it out of the hands of those whom the department has already caught by search or survey, and does so for the search year and all earlier years together, because a search characteristically opens a block of years. The third proviso keeps it from displacing proceedings that are already under way or already over, from being used twice for the same year, and from being used by a person who already knows the department has information about him — which is why it operates by reference to information having been COMMUNICATED to him before he files. The fourth and fifth provisos, added when the window was stretched from twenty-four to forty-eight months, are the price of that stretch: Parliament was willing to give two more years only on terms that the facility closes as soon as the department has moved under s.148A, and reopens only if the department itself concludes there is no case. Section 140B then prices the facility on a rising scale tied to delay, and charges the additional tax on tax and interest together so that the cost of the delay compounds with the delay itself. In the words reproduced by the source cited on this page: "seventy per cent of aggregate of tax and interest payable, as determined in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), as the case may be, if such return is furnished after the expiry of thirty-six months from the end of the relevant assessment year but before completion of the period of forty-eight months from the end of the relevant assessment year."
It was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions on 2022-04-01 and is reported as Income-tax Act 1961, ss.139(8A) and 140B; both inserted by the Finance Act 2022 w.e.f. 1-4-2022; the twenty-four month period in s.139(8A) substituted by forty-eight months, and clauses (iii) and (iv) inserted in s.140B(3), by the Finance Act 2025 (Act No. 7 of 2025) w.e.f. 1-4-2025. Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them. A CBDT circular or instruction binds officers of the department but not the assessee and not the courts. Where a circular helps you, you may hold the department to it. Where it hurts you, it cannot override the Act or a judgment. On section 139(8A), section 140B, section 115BBH, section 132, section 132A, section 133A, the practical question is whether the facts of your own notice match the facts of this case closely enough for the same rule to apply.
It cuts both ways and is cited by both sides. An updated return may be furnished at any time within forty-eight months from the end of the relevant assessment year. The first proviso excludes an updated return that is a return of a loss, or that has the effect of decreasing the total tax liability determined on the basis of the earlier return, or that results in or increases a refund. The second proviso makes a person ineligible where a search has been initiated under s.132, or books or assets requisitioned under s.132A, or a survey conducted under s.133A other than s.133A(2A), or a notice issued that money, bullion, jewellery, valuable articles, books or documents seized or requisitioned in another person's case belong or pertain to him — for the assessment year of the search, survey or requisition and every preceding assessment year. The third proviso bars an updated return where one has already been furnished for that year; where any proceeding for assessment, reassessment, recomputation or revision is pending or has been completed for that year; where information under SAFEMA 1976, the Benami Act 1988, PMLA 2002 or the Black Money Act 2015 has been communicated to him before furnishing; where information received under a s.90 or s.90A agreement has been communicated to him before furnishing; where prosecution proceedings under Chapter XXII have been initiated for that year before furnishing; or where he is a person, or of a class of persons, notified by the Board. The fourth proviso provides that no updated return shall be furnished by any person where any notice to show-cause under section 148A has been issued in his case after thirty-six months from the end of the relevant assessment year. The fifth proviso provides that the fourth proviso shall not apply where an order is passed under sub-section (3) of section 148A determining that it is not a fit case to issue notice under section 148. Under s.140B the tax, interest and fee otherwise payable must be paid before the return is furnished, with proof of payment accompanying it, together with additional income-tax of twenty-five per cent of the aggregate of tax and interest where the return is furnished within twelve months of the end of the assessment year, fifty per cent within twenty-four months, sixty per cent within thirty-six months and seventy per cent within forty-eight months; by the Explanation to sub-section (3), 'tax' for computing the additional income-tax includes surcharge and cess. It arises in Assessment & Scrutiny and Crypto & Virtual Digital Assets matters, on section 139(8A), section 140B, section 115BBH, section 132, section 132A, section 133A of the Income Tax Act 1961, and was decided by Not applicable — statutory text. Before relying on it, read the source linked on this page and check whether it has since been distinguished, overruled or overtaken by an amendment to the Income Tax Act. In practice the steps that follow from it are these. Treat the third proviso clause (b) as the urgent one: if a notice under s.143(2) or s.148 has issued for the year, the updated return is not available, so file BEFORE any proceeding starts, not after the notice arrives. Count the window from the END of the relevant assessment year, and use forty-eight months only for years still open on or after 1 April 2025; for the earlier position the limit was twenty-four months. Do not plan a disclosure into the last twelve months of the forty-eight month window without checking for a s.148A show-cause notice: the fourth proviso bars the updated return outright once such a notice has issued after thirty-six months from the end of the assessment year, unless an order under s.148A(3) has since held it not a fit case for a s.148 notice. Compute the s.140B additional tax on the aggregate of tax and interest, remembering that 'tax' there includes surcharge and cess, and pick the correct slab of twenty-five, fifty, sixty or seventy per cent by reference to when the return is actually furnished. Pay the tax, interest, fee and additional income-tax BEFORE furnishing the return and attach proof of payment; sub-sections (1) and (2) require it. Where the disclosure is of VDA income for AY 2023-24 or later, compute it under s.115BBH at thirty per cent with cost of acquisition only — an updated return does not open any deduction that the charging section closes. Do not attempt an updated return to claim a VDA loss: the first proviso will bar it and s.115BBH(2)(b) would deny the loss in any event. If a search or survey has taken place, stop — the second proviso bars the updated return for the year of the search or survey and for every preceding assessment year.
Still good law. In force. The forty-eight month window and the sixty and seventy per cent slabs are the position from 1 April 2025; for anything filed before that date the window was twenty-four months and only the twenty-five and fifty per cent slabs existed, and an entry advising on an earlier filing must use those. The provisos to s.139(8A) are stated from the Department's own current section page, /w/section-139-64 (Year stamp 2025), read twice; all five provisos are set out. I did not check whether the Board has notified any person or class of persons under clause (f) of the third proviso, and I did not check for any later amendment made after the Finance Act 2025. I did not check the corresponding provisions of the Income-tax Act 2025. No source could be cited for that finding. Checking whether an authority still stands matters as much as knowing what it held: a decision may be overruled on one point and survive on another, or the provision it interprets may have been amended since. Read the source and the editor's note on this page before relying on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal.
Statutory entry. 'tier' is 'cbdt' because the library's tier vocabulary has no value for a statutory entry. 'decided_on' is the date both provisions take effect, 1 April 2022, not a date of decision. Sourcing, stated exactly: the current text of s.140B(3), including the sixty and seventy per cent slabs, was read on the Income-tax Department's page /w/section-140b-4 (Year stamp 2025), which carries footnote 90, 'Ins. by Act No. 7 of 2025, w.e.f. 1-4-2025'. The Department's Year-2022, Year-2023, Year-2024 (No. 1) and Year-2024 (No. 2) pages for s.140B were also read and print only the twenty-five and fifty per cent slabs, which is how the amendment is dated. The Year-2022 page carries an insertion footnote reading 'Ins. by the Act No. 06 of 2020, w.e.f. 1-4-2022'; the Act number there is plainly a misprint on the Department's page, since the inserting Act is the Finance Act 2022, and I have not relied on it. The current text of s.139(8A) IS available on a Department section page: /w/section-139-64, Year stamp 2025. It prints sub-section (8A) with 'forty-eight months' against footnote 85, 'Sub. for "twenty-four" by Act No. 7 of 2025, w.e.f. 1-4-2025', and it prints FIVE provisos — the fourth and fifth carrying footnote 86, 'Ins. by Act No. 7 of 2025, w.e.f. 1-4-2025'. /w/section-139-62 (Year 2024 No. 1) and /w/section-139-63 (Year 2024 No. 2) still print 'twenty-four months' and only three provisos and must not be used. The judgment of the Telangana High Court in Mohammed Kaleem Ullah v Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, W.P. No. 40361 of 2025, dated 5 January 2026, reproduces sub-section (8A) at para 8 and records that 'The expression "twenty-four" of the unamended Section 139(8A) of the Act has been substituted by "forty-eight" by the Finance Act, 2025 with effect from 01.04.2025' — but it reproduces only 'the first, second and third provisos which are material for consideration in the facts of the case', so it is not a complete statement of the sub-section and must not be read as one. This library shows the verification state of every entry openly. This entry has not yet been read in full by a chartered accountant. The summary reflects the sources listed on this page. Read the source before you rely on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
An updated return may be furnished at any time within forty-eight months from the end of the relevant assessment year. The first proviso excludes an updated return that is a return of a loss, or that has the effect of decreasing the total tax liability determined on the basis of the earlier return, or that results in or increases a refund. The second proviso makes a person ineligible where a search has been initiated under s.132, or books or assets requisitioned under s.132A, or a survey conducted under s.133A other than s.133A(2A), or a notice issued that money, bullion, jewellery, valuable articles, books or documents seized or requisitioned in another person's case belong or pertain to him — for the assessment year of the search, survey or requisition and every preceding assessment year. The third proviso bars an updated return where one has already been furnished for that year; where any proceeding for assessment, reassessment, recomputation or revision is pending or has been completed for that year; where information under SAFEMA 1976, the Benami Act 1988, PMLA 2002 or the Black Money Act 2015 has been communicated to him before furnishing; where information received under a s.90 or s.90A agreement has been communicated to him before furnishing; where prosecution proceedings under Chapter XXII have been initiated for that year before furnishing; or where he is a person, or of a class of persons, notified by the Board. The fourth proviso provides that no updated return shall be furnished by any person where any notice to show-cause under section 148A has been issued in his case after thirty-six months from the end of the relevant assessment year. The fifth proviso provides that the fourth proviso shall not apply where an order is passed under sub-section (3) of section 148A determining that it is not a fit case to issue notice under section 148. Under s.140B the tax, interest and fee otherwise payable must be paid before the return is furnished, with proof of payment accompanying it, together with additional income-tax of twenty-five per cent of the aggregate of tax and interest where the return is furnished within twelve months of the end of the assessment year, fifty per cent within twenty-four months, sixty per cent within thirty-six months and seventy per cent within forty-eight months; by the Explanation to sub-section (3), 'tax' for computing the additional income-tax includes surcharge and cess.
Every entry in this library links to where it was found, so you can check it yourself rather than take our word for it.
When must the satisfaction note be recorded before proceedings are taken against a third party?
They recorded your statement in a survey. Can the addition rest on that alone?
The seized documents say nothing about the years being assessed. Can s.153C still be used for them?
The search party carted away all our books. Does the way a search was conducted make it illegal?