The Assessing Officer has served an order in February requiring my client to pay advance tax on the basis of an earlier year's assessed income. Can he do that, and what can my client do if the current year's income will be far lower?
He can, but only within the limits s.210(3) sets: the power exists only where the person has already been assessed by way of regular assessment for some previous year, it must be exercised 'at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February', it must be by order in writing, the tax must be calculated in the manner laid down in s.209, and a notice of demand under s.156 specifying the instalments must issue. If the current income will be lower, s.210(5) lets the assessee send an intimation in the prescribed form — Form No. 28A under rule 39 — and pay according to his own estimate instead; if it will be higher, s.210(6) obliges him to pay the higher amount by the last instalment date without waiting to be asked.
Decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) on 2025-04-01, reported as Section 210(3) to (6) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as amended up to 2025. It bears on section 210, section 210(3), section 210(4), section 210(5), section 210(6), section 218, section 209, section 209(1)(b), section 211, section 156 of the Income Tax Act 1961, in Assessment & Scrutiny, Demand, Recovery & Stay and How Tax Law Is Read matters.
Section 210 is the only part of the advance tax machinery that produces a demand the assessee can be in default on before the year is even over, and it is full of conditions that are easy to breach and easy to miss. The February cut-off in s.210(3) is absolute on the words used, so an order made in March is outside the power. The jurisdictional fact is a completed regular assessment for some previous year, which means a person never so assessed cannot be brought under s.210(3) at all — although he remains liable under s.210(1) of his own accord. The basis of the officer's computation is fixed by s.209(1)(b): the higher of the total income of the latest previous year assessed by regular assessment and the total income returned for any subsequent previous year — he may not use an estimate of his own. Section 210(4) allows an amended order if, before 1 March, a return is filed or a later regular assessment is made, again with a fresh s.156 notice. The assessee's answers are s.210(5) — a downward intimation in Form 28A, after which he pays on his own estimate — and s.210(6), which is mandatory in its terms ('shall') where his estimate is higher. The sanction is s.218: failure to pay an instalment under a s.210(3) or (4) order, coupled with failure to send the s.210(5) intimation on or before the date the unpaid instalment falls due or to pay under s.210(6), makes the assessee 'deemed to be an assessee in default in respect of such instalment or instalments' — which opens Chapter XVII-D recovery.
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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Section 210(1) requires every person liable to pay advance tax under s.208, whether or not previously assessed by regular assessment, to pay of his own accord on or before each due date in s.211 the appropriate percentage of the advance tax on his current income calculated in the manner laid down in s.209. Sub-section (2) permits him to increase or reduce the amount payable in the remaining instalments to accord with his estimate. Sub-section (3) empowers the Assessing Officer, in the case of a person already assessed by way of regular assessment for any previous year and if he is of opinion that such person is liable to pay advance tax, at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February, by order in writing, to require payment of advance tax calculated in the manner laid down in s.209, and to issue a notice of demand under s.156 specifying the instalments. Sub-section (4) permits an amended order where, after that order and before 1 March, a return is furnished under s.139 or in response to a s.142(1) notice, or a later regular assessment is made. Sub-section (5) permits the assessee served with such an order or amended order, if his estimate of the advance tax on his current income is lower, to send an intimation in the prescribed form and pay according to his estimate. Sub-section (6) obliges him, if his estimate is higher, to pay the higher amount on or before the due date of the last instalment. Section 218 provides that an assessee who does not pay an instalment required by an order under s.210(3) or (4) and does not send the s.210(5) intimation by the date the unpaid instalment falls due, or does not pay under s.210(6), 'shall be deemed to be an assessee in default in respect of such instalment or instalments'.
The Assessing Officer's power to require payment of advance tax is conditioned on four things appearing on the face of the order: a prior regular assessment of the person for some previous year; exercise of the power during the financial year and not later than the last day of February; an order in writing computing the tax in the manner laid down in s.209; and a notice of demand under s.156 specifying the instalments. The assessee's statutory answers are an intimation in the prescribed form under s.210(5) where his own estimate is lower, and a mandatory payment under s.210(6) where it is higher. Failure to pay an instalment without sending the s.210(5) intimation by the date it falls due, or failure to pay under s.210(6), attracts s.218 and the assessee is deemed to be in default in respect of that instalment.
Not applicable — this is a statement of the statutory text as printed on the departmental section pages. No judicial reasoning is involved.
the Assessing Officer, if he is of opinion that such person is liable to pay advance tax, may, at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February, by order in writing, require such person to pay advance tax calculated in the manner laid down in section 209, and issue to such person a notice of demand under section 156 specifying the instalment or instalments in which such tax is to be paid.
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Handle my notice → Ask a CA on WhatsAppHe can, but only within the limits s.210(3) sets: the power exists only where the person has already been assessed by way of regular assessment for some previous year, it must be exercised 'at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February', it must be by order in writing, the tax must be calculated in the manner laid down in s.209, and a notice of demand under s.156 specifying the instalments must issue. If the current income will be lower, s.210(5) lets the assessee send an intimation in the prescribed form — Form No. 28A under rule 39 — and pay according to his own estimate instead; if it will be higher, s.210(6) obliges him to pay the higher amount by the last instalment date without waiting to be asked. This was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) and bears on section 210, section 210(3), section 210(4), section 210(5), section 210(6), section 218, section 209, section 209(1)(b), section 211, section 156 of the Income Tax Act 1961. It is reported as Section 210(3) to (6) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as amended up to 2025. Section 210 is the only part of the advance tax machinery that produces a demand the assessee can be in default on before the year is even over, and it is full of conditions that are easy to breach and easy to miss. The February cut-off in s.210(3) is absolute on the words used, so an order made in March is outside the power. The jurisdictional fact is a completed regular assessment for some previous year, which means a person never so assessed cannot be brought under s.210(3) at all — although he remains liable under s.210(1) of his own accord. The basis of the officer's computation is fixed by s.209(1)(b): the higher of the total income of the latest previous year assessed by regular assessment and the total income returned for any subsequent previous year — he may not use an estimate of his own. Section 210(4) allows an amended order if, before 1 March, a return is filed or a later regular assessment is made, again with a fresh s.156 notice. The assessee's answers are s.210(5) — a downward intimation in Form 28A, after which he pays on his own estimate — and s.210(6), which is mandatory in its terms ('shall') where his estimate is higher. The sanction is s.218: failure to pay an instalment under a s.210(3) or (4) order, coupled with failure to send the s.210(5) intimation on or before the date the unpaid instalment falls due or to pay under s.210(6), makes the assessee 'deemed to be an assessee in default in respect of such instalment or instalments' — which opens Chapter XVII-D recovery. If it applies to you, the first step is this: Check the date of the s.210(3) order on its face. If it was made after the last day of February of the financial year, the power was spent; the sub-section confers it only 'at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February'.
Section 210(1) requires every person liable to pay advance tax under s.208, whether or not previously assessed by regular assessment, to pay of his own accord on or before each due date in s.211 the appropriate percentage of the advance tax on his current income calculated in the manner laid down in s.209. Sub-section (2) permits him to increase or reduce the amount payable in the remaining instalments to accord with his estimate. Sub-section (3) empowers the Assessing Officer, in the case of a person already assessed by way of regular assessment for any previous year and if he is of opinion that such person is liable to pay advance tax, at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February, by order in writing, to require payment of advance tax calculated in the manner laid down in s.209, and to issue a notice of demand under s.156 specifying the instalments. Sub-section (4) permits an amended order where, after that order and before 1 March, a return is furnished under s.139 or in response to a s.142(1) notice, or a later regular assessment is made. Sub-section (5) permits the assessee served with such an order or amended order, if his estimate of the advance tax on his current income is lower, to send an intimation in the prescribed form and pay according to his estimate. Sub-section (6) obliges him, if his estimate is higher, to pay the higher amount on or before the due date of the last instalment. Section 218 provides that an assessee who does not pay an instalment required by an order under s.210(3) or (4) and does not send the s.210(5) intimation by the date the unpaid instalment falls due, or does not pay under s.210(6), 'shall be deemed to be an assessee in default in respect of such instalment or instalments'. The matter was decided on 2025-04-01 by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text). On those facts the CBDT Circulars & Instructions held as follows. The Assessing Officer's power to require payment of advance tax is conditioned on four things appearing on the face of the order: a prior regular assessment of the person for some previous year; exercise of the power during the financial year and not later than the last day of February; an order in writing computing the tax in the manner laid down in s.209; and a notice of demand under s.156 specifying the instalments. The assessee's statutory answers are an intimation in the prescribed form under s.210(5) where his own estimate is lower, and a mandatory payment under s.210(6) where it is higher. Failure to pay an instalment without sending the s.210(5) intimation by the date it falls due, or failure to pay under s.210(6), attracts s.218 and the assessee is deemed to be in default in respect of that instalment.
Not applicable — this is a statement of the statutory text as printed on the departmental section pages. No judicial reasoning is involved. In the words reproduced by the source cited on this page: "the Assessing Officer, if he is of opinion that such person is liable to pay advance tax, may, at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February, by order in writing, require such person to pay advance tax calculated in the manner laid down in section 209, and issue to such person a notice of demand under section 156 specifying the instalment or instalments in which such tax is to be paid."
It was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions on 2025-04-01 and is reported as Section 210(3) to (6) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as amended up to 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 210, section 210(3), section 210(4), section 210(5), section 210(6), section 218, section 209, section 209(1)(b), section 211, section 156, 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. The Assessing Officer's power to require payment of advance tax is conditioned on four things appearing on the face of the order: a prior regular assessment of the person for some previous year; exercise of the power during the financial year and not later than the last day of February; an order in writing computing the tax in the manner laid down in s.209; and a notice of demand under s.156 specifying the instalments. The assessee's statutory answers are an intimation in the prescribed form under s.210(5) where his own estimate is lower, and a mandatory payment under s.210(6) where it is higher. Failure to pay an instalment without sending the s.210(5) intimation by the date it falls due, or failure to pay under s.210(6), attracts s.218 and the assessee is deemed to be in default in respect of that instalment. It arises in Assessment & Scrutiny, Demand, Recovery & Stay and How Tax Law Is Read matters, on section 210, section 210(3), section 210(4), section 210(5), section 210(6), section 218, section 209, section 209(1)(b), section 211, section 156 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. Check that a regular assessment for some previous year had in fact been completed before the order — that is the condition on which s.210(3) opens, and an intimation under s.143(1) is not a regular assessment. Check the computation against s.209(1)(b): the officer must take the higher of the latest regularly assessed total income and the total income returned for any later previous year, and apply the rates in force in the financial year. A figure built on the officer's own view of current income is outside the section. Check that a notice of demand under s.156 specifying the instalments actually issued. Section 210(3) requires it, and without it there is nothing to be in default of. If the current income will be lower, file the s.210(5) intimation in Form No. 28A before the next due date and pay on your own estimate — do not simply stop paying. Section 218 makes non-payment plus non-intimation the trigger for deemed default. If the current income will be higher than the order, pay the excess by the last instalment date under s.210(6); the sub-section is expressed as an obligation, not an option.
Searched for later treatment; none was found. That is not the same as a source affirming it. Neither section 210 nor section 218 has been amended within the period this entry covers, and neither is among the sections of the 1961 Act amended by the Finance Bill, 2025 on the Income-tax Department's published Notes on Clauses. The two texts of each section that this entry relies on — which print s.210(3) to (6) and s.218 identically — therefore remain the current text: the s.210(3) power exercisable only against a person already assessed by way of regular assessment, only during the financial year and not later than the last day of February, the assessee's own lower estimate in Form 28A under s.210(5), and the s.218 deeming of default. No decision construing s.210(3) to (6) is recorded, so this is not put higher. This states the law under the Income-tax Act, 1961, which governs every assessment year up to and including AY 2026-27 and the disputes arising from those years. 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.
Section 210 is set out here in full, sub-sections (1) to (6), under the heading 'Payment of advance tax by the assessee of his own accord or in pursuance of order of Assessing Officer', and sub-sections (3) to (6) are confirmed word for word against a second text of the section. Section 218, headed 'When assessee deemed to be in default', is likewise set out in full and confirmed word for word against a second text of that section, so both rest on two sources of different dates. The decided_on date of 1 April 2025 is NOT an established commencement date for s.210 or s.218. It records the date of the text relied on. No footnote apparatus appears against either section, and no amending Act is identified for either, so no sub-section of either section can be dated from this entry. The form number is the weak link here and is flagged accordingly. The text of rule 39 available for this entry reads: 'The intimation which an assessee has to send to the Assessing Officer under sub-section (5) of section 210 shall be in Form No. 28A.' That text carries no date, so the rule cannot be dated, and the form number should be confirmed against the current Income-tax Rules before it is relied on in correspondence — a wrong form number in a letter to the Assessing Officer is an avoidable way to lose the protection of s.210(5). 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.
The Assessing Officer's power to require payment of advance tax is conditioned on four things appearing on the face of the order: a prior regular assessment of the person for some previous year; exercise of the power during the financial year and not later than the last day of February; an order in writing computing the tax in the manner laid down in s.209; and a notice of demand under s.156 specifying the instalments. The assessee's statutory answers are an intimation in the prescribed form under s.210(5) where his own estimate is lower, and a mandatory payment under s.210(6) where it is higher. Failure to pay an instalment without sending the s.210(5) intimation by the date it falls due, or failure to pay under s.210(6), attracts s.218 and the assessee is deemed to be in default in respect of that instalment.
TaxSphere, “Statutory position — s.210(3) to (6): the Assessing Officer's order to pay advance tax, the assessee's own lower estimate in Form 28A, and s.218 default”, https://taxnotice.vittsphere.com/caselaw/case/statutory-position-210-assessing-officer-order-to-pay-advance-tax-form-28a-and-section-218-default/ (validity last checked 2026-09-08)
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My capital gain arose after 15 March, so I could not have paid advance tax on it in any instalment. The Assessing Officer has charged s.234C interest from the first instalment date. Can he?
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