The variation in my assessment order is about six lakh rupees and my returned income was thirty-eight lakh. Filing a first appeal will take years. Is there anything else I can do, and what do I lose if I go that way?
There is one alternative, and it is narrow. Section 245MA lets the Central Government constitute Dispute Resolution Committees for persons the Board specifies, who may opt for dispute resolution in respect of a dispute arising from any variation in a 'specified order' and who fulfil the 'specified conditions'. The Explanation fixes two numbers: the aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in the order must not exceed ten lakh rupees, and where a return has been filed for the relevant assessment year the total income as per that return must not exceed fifty lakh rupees. An order based on a search under section 132, a requisition under section 132A, a survey under section 133A, or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A is outside the definition altogether. The committee may reduce or waive a penalty imposable under the Act and grant immunity from prosecution. The application is in Form No. 34BC under rule 44DAB with a fee of one thousand rupees. The section itself says nothing about section 246A at all.
Decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) on 2021-04-01, reported as Section 245MA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as amended up to 2025, read with rules 44DAA, 44DAB and 44DAC of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. It bears on section 245MA, section 245MA(1), section 245MA(2), section 245MA(2A), section 245MA(3), section 245MA(4), section Rule 44DAA, section Rule 44DAB, section Rule 44DAC, section 246A, section 144C(1), section 132, section 132A, section 133A, section 90, section 90A of the Income Tax Act 1961, in Appeals, Assessment & Scrutiny, Penalty and Faceless Assessment & Appeals matters.
For the reader this library is written for — a man holding a small assessment order, facing a first appeal that will not be heard for years — section 245MA is the only statutory alternative that ends the dispute rather than moving it. What decides whether he can use it is arithmetic he can do in ten minutes, and most of the failures happen there. The first ceiling is on the variation, not on the tax and not on the demand: the Explanation says 'aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in such order', so an order adding four lakh under one head and seven lakh under another is out at eleven lakh even though the tax at stake is a fraction of that. The second ceiling is on the returned income, not on the assessed income, and it applies only where a return was filed — which is the single most misread word in the clause. A man whose return showed forty-eight lakh and whose assessment brings him to fifty-six lakh is still inside; a man whose return showed fifty-two lakh is outside before the variation is even counted. The four excluded origins matter more than the ceilings in practice. An order that traces back to a search under section 132, a requisition under section 132A, a survey under section 133A, or information received under an exchange-of-information article in a treaty is not a specified order at all, whatever its size. Survey cases in particular are refused on this ground after the fee has been paid. What is gained is real: sub-section (2) lets the committee reduce or waive a penalty imposable under the Act and grant immunity from prosecution — relief no first appellate authority can give, because a Commissioner (Appeals) can only decide the appeal before him. What is given up is the wider right of appeal, and the section is silent about the interaction. It never mentions section 246A. So the limitation for the first appeal is not stopped by anything in the section, and a practitioner who lets the appeal period lapse while an application is being prepared has no statutory answer to point to.
Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them.
Read aloud by your device. Press again to stop.
Section 245MA, under the heading 'Dispute Resolution Committee', has sub-sections (1), (2), (2A), (3), (4) and (5). Sub-section (1) requires the Central Government to constitute one or more Dispute Resolution Committees, as may be necessary, in accordance with the rules made under the Act, for dispute resolution in the case of such persons or class of persons as may be specified by the Board, who may opt for dispute resolution under the Chapter in respect of dispute arising from any variation in the specified order in his case and who fulfils the specified conditions. Sub-section (2) gives the committee, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, the powers to reduce or waive any penalty imposable under the Act or grant immunity from prosecution for any offence punishable under the Act in the case of a person whose dispute is resolved under the Chapter. Sub-section (2A), against which the section carries the amendment footnote 'Inserted by Act No. 08 of 2023, w.e.f. 1-4-2023', opens 'Notwithstanding anything contained in section 144C' and directs that upon receipt of the committee's order the Assessing Officer shall, where the specified order is a draft of the proposed order of assessment under sub-section (1) of section 144C, pass an order of assessment, reassessment or recomputation, and in any other case modify the order of assessment, reassessment or recomputation in conformity with the directions contained in the committee's order, within a period of one month from the end of the month in which such order is received. Sub-section (3) empowers the Central Government to make a scheme by notification for dispute resolution under the Chapter, eliminating the interface between the committee and the assessee to the extent technologically feasible, optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation, and introducing a dispute resolution system with dynamic jurisdiction. Sub-section (4) permits directions disapplying or modifying provisions of the Act for the purposes of that scheme, and carries two provisos: the first that no such direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2023, and the second, inserted by Act No. 08 of 2023 with effect from 1 April 2023, that the Central Government may amend any direction issued under the sub-section on or before that date, by notification in the Official Gazette; sub-section (5) requires every notification under sub-sections (3) and (4) to be laid before each House of Parliament. The Explanation defines 'specified conditions' by reference to the person — no subsisting detention order under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, no conviction under the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the Prohibition of Benami Transactions Act, 1988, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002, no prosecution instituted by an income-tax authority, no notification under the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, 1992, and such other conditions as may be prescribed — and defines 'specified order' as such order, including draft order, as may be specified by the Board, and (i) 'aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in such order does not exceed ten lakh rupees'; (ii) 'such order is not based on search initiated under section 132 or requisition under section 132A in the case of assessee or any other person or survey under section 133A or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A'; (iii) 'where return has been filed by the assessee for the assessment year relevant to such order, total income as per such return does not exceed fifty lakh rupees.' Rule 44DAA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 provides for the constitution of a committee for each Principal Chief Commissioner region, of three members — two retired Indian Revenue Service (Income-tax) officers who have held the post of Commissioner of Income-tax or an equivalent or higher post for five years or more, and one serving officer of or above the rank of Commissioner — holding office for three years and deciding by majority. Rule 44DAB requires the application to be made in Form No. 34BC by the person who opts for dispute resolution under section 245MA in respect of dispute arising from any variation in the specified order in his case and who fulfils the specified conditions, accompanied by a fee of one thousand rupees. Rule 44DAC conditions the reduction or waiver of penalty and the grant of immunity from prosecution on the applicant having paid the tax due on the returned income, if available, and having co-operated with the committee, withholds immunity where prosecution proceedings for an offence were initiated before receipt of the application, and provides for withdrawal of an immunity whose conditions are broken.
Eligibility under section 245MA turns on four things at once, and all four must hold. The person must fall within the class the Board specifies and must satisfy the 'specified conditions' in clause (a) of the Explanation, which are about his record, not his return. The order must be one the Board has specified, and may be a draft order. The aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in that order must not exceed ten lakh rupees. Where a return has been filed for the relevant assessment year, the total income as per that return must not exceed fifty lakh rupees. An order based on a section 132 search, a section 132A requisition, a section 133A survey or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A is excluded from the definition of 'specified order' and can never qualify, however small the variation. What the committee may do is fixed by sub-section (2): it may reduce or waive a penalty imposable under the Act and grant immunity from prosecution for an offence punishable under the Act, subject to the conditions prescribed by rule 44DAC. Section 245MA(2A) requires the Assessing Officer to give effect to the committee's order within one month from the end of the month in which he receives it. The section contains no reference to section 246A, to an appeal, or to the Commissioner (Appeals).
Not applicable — this is a statement of statutory text and of the rules made under it, read on the departmental pages for the section and for rules 44DAA, 44DAB and 44DAC. No judicial reasoning is involved, and no decision construing section 245MA was located.
'specified order' means such order, including draft order, as may be specified by the Board, and,— (i) aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in such order does not exceed ten lakh rupees; (ii) such order is not based on search initiated under section 132 or requisition under section 132A in the case of assessee or any other person or survey under section 133A or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A; (iii) where return has been filed by the assessee for the assessment year relevant to such order, total income as per such return does not exceed fifty lakh rupees.
Upload it and we will read it, work out your deadline and draft the reply. A CA reviews before anything is filed.
Handle my notice → Ask a CA on WhatsAppThere is one alternative, and it is narrow. Section 245MA lets the Central Government constitute Dispute Resolution Committees for persons the Board specifies, who may opt for dispute resolution in respect of a dispute arising from any variation in a 'specified order' and who fulfil the 'specified conditions'. The Explanation fixes two numbers: the aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in the order must not exceed ten lakh rupees, and where a return has been filed for the relevant assessment year the total income as per that return must not exceed fifty lakh rupees. An order based on a search under section 132, a requisition under section 132A, a survey under section 133A, or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A is outside the definition altogether. The committee may reduce or waive a penalty imposable under the Act and grant immunity from prosecution. The application is in Form No. 34BC under rule 44DAB with a fee of one thousand rupees. The section itself says nothing about section 246A at all. This was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) and bears on section 245MA, section 245MA(1), section 245MA(2), section 245MA(2A), section 245MA(3), section 245MA(4), section Rule 44DAA, section Rule 44DAB, section Rule 44DAC, section 246A, section 144C(1), section 132, section 132A, section 133A, section 90, section 90A of the Income Tax Act 1961. It is reported as Section 245MA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as amended up to 2025, read with rules 44DAA, 44DAB and 44DAC of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. For the reader this library is written for — a man holding a small assessment order, facing a first appeal that will not be heard for years — section 245MA is the only statutory alternative that ends the dispute rather than moving it. What decides whether he can use it is arithmetic he can do in ten minutes, and most of the failures happen there. The first ceiling is on the variation, not on the tax and not on the demand: the Explanation says 'aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in such order', so an order adding four lakh under one head and seven lakh under another is out at eleven lakh even though the tax at stake is a fraction of that. The second ceiling is on the returned income, not on the assessed income, and it applies only where a return was filed — which is the single most misread word in the clause. A man whose return showed forty-eight lakh and whose assessment brings him to fifty-six lakh is still inside; a man whose return showed fifty-two lakh is outside before the variation is even counted. The four excluded origins matter more than the ceilings in practice. An order that traces back to a search under section 132, a requisition under section 132A, a survey under section 133A, or information received under an exchange-of-information article in a treaty is not a specified order at all, whatever its size. Survey cases in particular are refused on this ground after the fee has been paid. What is gained is real: sub-section (2) lets the committee reduce or waive a penalty imposable under the Act and grant immunity from prosecution — relief no first appellate authority can give, because a Commissioner (Appeals) can only decide the appeal before him. What is given up is the wider right of appeal, and the section is silent about the interaction. It never mentions section 246A. So the limitation for the first appeal is not stopped by anything in the section, and a practitioner who lets the appeal period lapse while an application is being prepared has no statutory answer to point to. If it applies to you, the first step is this: Add up the variations in the order before anything else. The Explanation reads 'aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in such order', so it is the total of the additions and disallowances in that one order, not the tax on them, that must stay within ten lakh rupees.
Section 245MA, under the heading 'Dispute Resolution Committee', has sub-sections (1), (2), (2A), (3), (4) and (5). Sub-section (1) requires the Central Government to constitute one or more Dispute Resolution Committees, as may be necessary, in accordance with the rules made under the Act, for dispute resolution in the case of such persons or class of persons as may be specified by the Board, who may opt for dispute resolution under the Chapter in respect of dispute arising from any variation in the specified order in his case and who fulfils the specified conditions. Sub-section (2) gives the committee, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, the powers to reduce or waive any penalty imposable under the Act or grant immunity from prosecution for any offence punishable under the Act in the case of a person whose dispute is resolved under the Chapter. Sub-section (2A), against which the section carries the amendment footnote 'Inserted by Act No. 08 of 2023, w.e.f. 1-4-2023', opens 'Notwithstanding anything contained in section 144C' and directs that upon receipt of the committee's order the Assessing Officer shall, where the specified order is a draft of the proposed order of assessment under sub-section (1) of section 144C, pass an order of assessment, reassessment or recomputation, and in any other case modify the order of assessment, reassessment or recomputation in conformity with the directions contained in the committee's order, within a period of one month from the end of the month in which such order is received. Sub-section (3) empowers the Central Government to make a scheme by notification for dispute resolution under the Chapter, eliminating the interface between the committee and the assessee to the extent technologically feasible, optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation, and introducing a dispute resolution system with dynamic jurisdiction. Sub-section (4) permits directions disapplying or modifying provisions of the Act for the purposes of that scheme, and carries two provisos: the first that no such direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2023, and the second, inserted by Act No. 08 of 2023 with effect from 1 April 2023, that the Central Government may amend any direction issued under the sub-section on or before that date, by notification in the Official Gazette; sub-section (5) requires every notification under sub-sections (3) and (4) to be laid before each House of Parliament. The Explanation defines 'specified conditions' by reference to the person — no subsisting detention order under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, no conviction under the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the Prohibition of Benami Transactions Act, 1988, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002, no prosecution instituted by an income-tax authority, no notification under the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, 1992, and such other conditions as may be prescribed — and defines 'specified order' as such order, including draft order, as may be specified by the Board, and (i) 'aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in such order does not exceed ten lakh rupees'; (ii) 'such order is not based on search initiated under section 132 or requisition under section 132A in the case of assessee or any other person or survey under section 133A or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A'; (iii) 'where return has been filed by the assessee for the assessment year relevant to such order, total income as per such return does not exceed fifty lakh rupees.' Rule 44DAA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 provides for the constitution of a committee for each Principal Chief Commissioner region, of three members — two retired Indian Revenue Service (Income-tax) officers who have held the post of Commissioner of Income-tax or an equivalent or higher post for five years or more, and one serving officer of or above the rank of Commissioner — holding office for three years and deciding by majority. Rule 44DAB requires the application to be made in Form No. 34BC by the person who opts for dispute resolution under section 245MA in respect of dispute arising from any variation in the specified order in his case and who fulfils the specified conditions, accompanied by a fee of one thousand rupees. Rule 44DAC conditions the reduction or waiver of penalty and the grant of immunity from prosecution on the applicant having paid the tax due on the returned income, if available, and having co-operated with the committee, withholds immunity where prosecution proceedings for an offence were initiated before receipt of the application, and provides for withdrawal of an immunity whose conditions are broken. The matter was decided on 2021-04-01 by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text). On those facts the CBDT Circulars & Instructions held as follows. Eligibility under section 245MA turns on four things at once, and all four must hold. The person must fall within the class the Board specifies and must satisfy the 'specified conditions' in clause (a) of the Explanation, which are about his record, not his return. The order must be one the Board has specified, and may be a draft order. The aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in that order must not exceed ten lakh rupees. Where a return has been filed for the relevant assessment year, the total income as per that return must not exceed fifty lakh rupees. An order based on a section 132 search, a section 132A requisition, a section 133A survey or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A is excluded from the definition of 'specified order' and can never qualify, however small the variation. What the committee may do is fixed by sub-section (2): it may reduce or waive a penalty imposable under the Act and grant immunity from prosecution for an offence punishable under the Act, subject to the conditions prescribed by rule 44DAC. Section 245MA(2A) requires the Assessing Officer to give effect to the committee's order within one month from the end of the month in which he receives it. The section contains no reference to section 246A, to an appeal, or to the Commissioner (Appeals).
Not applicable — this is a statement of statutory text and of the rules made under it, read on the departmental pages for the section and for rules 44DAA, 44DAB and 44DAC. No judicial reasoning is involved, and no decision construing section 245MA was located. In the words reproduced by the source cited on this page: "'specified order' means such order, including draft order, as may be specified by the Board, and,— (i) aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in such order does not exceed ten lakh rupees; (ii) such order is not based on search initiated under section 132 or requisition under section 132A in the case of assessee or any other person or survey under section 133A or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A; (iii) where return has been filed by the assessee for the assessment year relevant to such order, total income as per such return does not exceed fifty lakh rupees."
It was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions on 2021-04-01 and is reported as Section 245MA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as amended up to 2025, read with rules 44DAA, 44DAB and 44DAC of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. 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 245MA, section 245MA(1), section 245MA(2), section 245MA(2A), section 245MA(3), section 245MA(4), section Rule 44DAA, section Rule 44DAB, section Rule 44DAC, section 246A, section 144C(1), section 132, section 132A, section 133A, section 90, section 90A, 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. Eligibility under section 245MA turns on four things at once, and all four must hold. The person must fall within the class the Board specifies and must satisfy the 'specified conditions' in clause (a) of the Explanation, which are about his record, not his return. The order must be one the Board has specified, and may be a draft order. The aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in that order must not exceed ten lakh rupees. Where a return has been filed for the relevant assessment year, the total income as per that return must not exceed fifty lakh rupees. An order based on a section 132 search, a section 132A requisition, a section 133A survey or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A is excluded from the definition of 'specified order' and can never qualify, however small the variation. What the committee may do is fixed by sub-section (2): it may reduce or waive a penalty imposable under the Act and grant immunity from prosecution for an offence punishable under the Act, subject to the conditions prescribed by rule 44DAC. Section 245MA(2A) requires the Assessing Officer to give effect to the committee's order within one month from the end of the month in which he receives it. The section contains no reference to section 246A, to an appeal, or to the Commissioner (Appeals). It arises in Appeals, Assessment & Scrutiny, Penalty and Faceless Assessment & Appeals matters, on section 245MA, section 245MA(1), section 245MA(2), section 245MA(2A), section 245MA(3), section 245MA(4), section Rule 44DAA, section Rule 44DAB, section Rule 44DAC, section 246A, section 144C(1), section 132, section 132A, section 133A, section 90, section 90A 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 the returned income for the assessment year the order relates to. Where a return was filed, total income as per that return must not exceed fifty lakh rupees. Where no return was filed the third condition has nothing to bite on, because it is expressed as applying 'where return has been filed by the assessee'. Rule out the four disqualifying origins. If the order is based on a search under section 132, a requisition under section 132A, a survey under section 133A, or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A, the order is not a 'specified order' and no application lies. Go through the specified conditions in clause (a) of the Explanation about the person, not the order: no detention order under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 that still stands, no conviction under the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the Prohibition of Benami Transactions Act, 1988, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002, no prosecution already instituted by an income-tax authority against him, and no notification under the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, 1992. File Form No. 34BC on the e-filing portal with the fee of one thousand rupees prescribed by rule 44DAB. There is no separate form for a draft order and none for an appeal already filed. Pay the tax due on the returned income before the committee hears you. Rule 44DAC conditions the waiver of penalty and the immunity from prosecution on the applicant having paid the tax due on the returned income, if available, and on his having co-operated with the committee. Do not expect immunity where the prosecution has already started. Rule 44DAC withholds immunity in a case where proceedings for prosecution for an offence have been initiated before the application was received, and the immunity, once granted, is withdrawn if its conditions are broken. Diarise the assessing officer's follow-up. Section 245MA(2A) gives him one month from the end of the month in which the committee's order is received to pass the assessment, reassessment or recomputation where the specified order was a draft order, or to modify it in conformity with the committee's directions in any other case. Where the order is a draft order under section 144C(1), decide between this route and the Dispute Resolution Panel before the draft-order clock runs out; the section treats a draft order as capable of being a specified order, so both doors are open at the same moment and only one can be used. Keep the first appeal in view throughout. Section 245MA does not mention section 246A, does not suspend the appeal period and does not by its own words bar an appeal, so the appeal limitation continues to run while an application is being prepared.
Searched for later treatment; none was found. That is not the same as a source affirming it. Section 245MA stands, and both of the changes made to it since it came in are recorded on its face. The current published text carries sub-sections (1), (2), (2A), (3), (4) and (5) together with the Explanation, and the footnote 'Inserted by Act No. 08 of 2023, w.e.f. 1-4-2023' against sub-section (2A), with a footnote in the same terms against the second proviso to sub-section (4). The earlier published text carries the section without sub-section (2A) and with one proviso only to sub-section (4), and is otherwise word for word the same. It carries against the section the footnote 'Chapter XIX-AA, consisting of section 245MA, Ins. by the Act No. 13 of 2021, w.e.f. 1-4-2021', which is where the date on this entry comes from. The two ceilings — ten lakh rupees of aggregate variation and fifty lakh rupees of returned income — appear in both texts, unchanged. Two limits on the section's reach are printed on its own face. First, sub-section (1) makes the whole scheme conditional on the Board specifying the persons or class of persons who may opt, and on the Board specifying the orders; a person who meets both ceilings is still outside the door until he falls within a specification made by the Board. Second, the first proviso to sub-section (4) closed on 31 March 2023 the power to direct that provisions of the Act shall not apply, or shall apply with modifications, for the purposes of the scheme made under sub-section (3). The scheme itself is unaffected, and the second proviso preserves the power to amend a direction already issued on or before that date; but no fresh disapplication direction can be issued now. No judicial decision construing section 245MA has been traced, so nothing is said here about how the ceilings have been applied in practice, about what happens to the appeal period while an application is pending, or about whether an order of the committee can be challenged. Rules 44DAA, 44DAB and 44DAC are taken from their own published texts and carry no amendment footnote against the words relied on. Rule 44DAC refers on its face to paragraph 4 of the e-Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2022, which confirms that the Scheme has a paragraph governing the application and the intimation to the committee; the periods in it are not stated here, the Scheme itself not having been read. The fee, the composition of the committee and the payment and co-operation conditions are stated from the rules and nothing else. 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.
Sourcing for this entry, and the reader should know exactly how much of it is second-hand. The section is taken from the current published text of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and checked against the text published for 2021. The earlier text carries sub-sections (1) to (5) and the Explanation; the current one carries those and sub-section (2A) as well, with the footnote 'Inserted by Act No. 08 of 2023, w.e.f. 1-4-2023'. The earlier text carries against the section the footnote 'Chapter XIX-AA, consisting of section 245MA, Ins. by the Act No. 13 of 2021, w.e.f. 1-4-2021'. The date on this entry, 1 April 2021, is that commencement date and nothing else. Rules 44DAA, 44DAB and 44DAC are taken from their own published texts, each naming the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The Press Information Bureau release of 30 August 2024 on the roll-out of the Scheme has been read as an independent government source and is consistent with the two ceilings and with the exclusions. What could not be established. The text of the e-Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2022 itself — Notification No. 27/2022, S.O. 1642(E), dated 5 April 2022 — has not been read clause by clause. So the Scheme's own clause numbering, the period within which the application must be made, the treatment of an appeal already filed before the Commissioner (Appeals), and the period within which the committee must pass its order are not stated in the body of this entry from the Scheme's own words. The Press Information Bureau release describes an application made within one month from the date of receipt of the specified order, an order to be passed within six months from the end of the month in which the application is admitted, and a cut-off date of 30 September 2024 for cases where an appeal was already pending. Those descriptions are recorded here rather than in the body, because they come from a press release about the Scheme and not from the Scheme as published. A reader relying on any of those dates must read the notification itself. Nothing is said here about the successor provision under the Income-tax Act, 2025. That section has not been read, and a mapping that has not been read is worse than a gap. What has been read is rule 197 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which prescribes Form No. 119 for an application to a Dispute Resolution Committee, with the same fee of one thousand rupees. No judicial decision on section 245MA has been traced, and the entry claims none. 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.
Eligibility under section 245MA turns on four things at once, and all four must hold. The person must fall within the class the Board specifies and must satisfy the 'specified conditions' in clause (a) of the Explanation, which are about his record, not his return. The order must be one the Board has specified, and may be a draft order. The aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in that order must not exceed ten lakh rupees. Where a return has been filed for the relevant assessment year, the total income as per that return must not exceed fifty lakh rupees. An order based on a section 132 search, a section 132A requisition, a section 133A survey or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A is excluded from the definition of 'specified order' and can never qualify, however small the variation. What the committee may do is fixed by sub-section (2): it may reduce or waive a penalty imposable under the Act and grant immunity from prosecution for an offence punishable under the Act, subject to the conditions prescribed by rule 44DAC. Section 245MA(2A) requires the Assessing Officer to give effect to the committee's order within one month from the end of the month in which he receives it. The section contains no reference to section 246A, to an appeal, or to the Commissioner (Appeals).
TaxSphere, “Statutory position — s.245MA and the e-Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2022: ten lakh rupees of variation, fifty lakh rupees of returned income, and a committee that can waive the penalty”, https://taxnotice.vittsphere.com/caselaw/case/statutory-position-245ma-and-the-e-dispute-resolution-scheme-2022-ten-lakh-of-variation-fifty-lakh-of-returned-income/ (validity last checked 2026-09-23)
The judgment itself is a government work and may be quoted freely. The summary, the validity note and the reasoning on this page are this library's own writing: quote them with attribution, and please do not present either as the words of the court — this page keeps the two apart and so should a quotation of it.
Every entry in this library links to where it was found, so you can check it yourself rather than take our word for it.
The Assessing Officer has served a final assessment order on our foreign company raising a transfer pricing addition, without ever serving a draft order. Was he obliged to serve one first, and what was I supposed to do with it if he had?
The Assessing Officer has forwarded a draft order to our partnership firm, which is non-resident but is not a company, and there is no Transfer Pricing Officer's order in the case. Is the firm an eligible assessee at all, and does it matter which assessment year we are in?
We are considering objecting to a draft order. Can the Dispute Resolution Panel make our position worse, can it send the matter back for fresh enquiry, and if we lose before it, do we appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) or straight to the Tribunal?
My 2024 Vivad se Vishwas application was rejected under section 96 as a search case, but the only departmental action in my case was a survey. Can the authority do that?
