Circular No. 379 — Instructions to subordinate authorities - Authorisation regarding condonation of delay in

What this is

Circular No. 379 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 10 April 1984. Its subject is Instructions to subordinate authorities - Authorisation regarding condonation of delay in filing refund claim.

This is a condonation. It lets an authority admit something filed late; it does not make the late filing timely, and it usually carries conditions and an outer limit of its own.

What it does

Communicates to Commissioners the Board's order of 24-3-1984 under section 119(2)(b) condoning delay in filing returns where an otherwise valid refund claim under section 237 is made after the section 239 time limit. Income-tax Officers are empowered to admit such a claim and dispose of it on merits provided the refund from tax deducted at source for the assessment year does not exceed Rs. 1,000, the returned income is not a loss with a carry forward claim, the claim is not supplementary to a completed assessment, and the income is not assessable in another person's hands. The order is effective from 2-4-1984, and Commissioners are asked to circulate it to all officers and give it wide publicity.

Why it was issued

It carries the Board's own condonation order down the line so that small time-barred refund claims are not simply thrown out.

Who it reaches

Small assessees whose only refund arises from tax deducted at source
Income-tax Officers deciding whether to admit a late section 237 claim
Commissioners circulating the order in their charge

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.119	s.239
s.192	s.392, s.402
s.237	s.431
s.239	s.433

The instrument, as the Board published it

The words below are the department’s own, reproduced from its published text. Where the department’s copy carried a publisher’s notes after the instrument, those are not reproduced.

Instructions to subordinate authorities - Authorisation regarding condonation of delay in filing refund claim

1. Attention is invited to Board’s order under section 119(2)(b) [F. No. 225/105/83-IT (A-II)], dated 24-3-1984 [Annex] wherein the Board, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 119, have condoned the delay in filing returns of income in cases where an otherwise valid refund claim under section 237 is filed by the assessee after the expiry of the statutory time limit under section 239 and the Income-tax Officer, having jurisdiction over the case, has been empowered to admit the said claim and dispose of the same merits and in accordance with law provided the following conditions are satisfied :
(i) the refund arising as a result of tax deducted at source in respect of the assessment year under the provisions of sections 192, 193, 194, 194A, 194B, 194C, 194D and 195 does not exceed Rs. 1,000;
(ii) the refund income is not a loss where the assessee claims the benefit of carry forward of the loss;
(iii) the refund claimed is not supplementary in nature, e.g., a claim for additional amount of refund after the completion of the original assessment for the same assessment year; and
(iv) the income of the assessee if not assessable in the hands of any other person under any provisions of the Act.
2. This order has been made effective from April 2, 1984.
3. You are requested to bring to the contents of the aforesaid order, which has already been communicated to you vide the Board’s endorsement of even number dated 24-3-1984 to the notice of all the officers working under you. It is also requested that this authorisation may be given wide publicity.
Circular : No. 379 [F. No. 225/105/83-IT (A-II)], dated 10-4-1984.

What to watch

The Rs. 1,000 ceiling is on the refund for the assessment year, not on the tax deducted.
A supplementary claim after the original assessment is excluded, as is a loss return with a carry forward claim.
The list of deduction sections as reproduced in this text differs from how the same order is described elsewhere, so check the order itself before relying on the inclusion of any one section.
Condonation limits under section 119(2)(b) have been revised many times since 1984.

Where you meet it

When a refund claim is rejected as barred by section 239 and condonation is sought from the Assessing Officer.

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Circular No. 6/2026 — Condonation of delay in filing Form No. 10AB electronically for approval under clause(ii) of the first proviso to sectio 2 July 2026
Circular No. 2/2026 — Order under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for extension of timeline for issuance of tax deducted at source (TD 25 March 2026
Circular No.15/2025 — Extension of timelines for filing of various reports of audit and income tax returns ITRS for the assessment year 2025 2 29 October 2025
Circular No. 10/2025 — Relaxation of time limit for processing of returns of income filed electronically which were incorrectly invalidated by 28 July 2025
Circular No. 7/2025 — Relaxation of time limit for processing of valid returns of income filed electronically pursuant to order u/s 119(2)(b) 25 June 2025
Circular No. 6/2025 — Extension of due date for furnishing return of income for the Assessment Year 2025-26 27 May 2025

← Circular No. 381 · Circular No. 380 →

A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.