Circular No. 6/2018

Clarification in respect of CBDT notification no. 33 of 2018 amending form no. 3CD

What this is

Circular No. 6/2018 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 17 August 2018. Its subject is Clarification in respect of CBDT notification no. 33 of 2018 amending form no. 3CD.

This is a clarification. The Board is stating how it reads a provision. That reading binds the department; it does not bind a court, and where the section says otherwise the section wins.

What it does

Keeps two new clauses of the tax audit report in abeyance. Form No. 3CD, which prescribed persons furnish with the tax audit report under section 44AB read with rule 6G, was amended by the notification of 20 July 2018 with effect from 20 August 2018. The Board directs that reporting under the new clause 30C, on the general anti-avoidance rules, and the new clause 44, on goods and services tax compliance, is kept in abeyance till 31 March 2019, so that for reports furnished on or after 20 August 2018 but before 1 April 2019 the tax auditor need not furnish the details called for by those two clauses. The order is under section 119.

Why it was issued

Representations were received asking that the implementation of the reporting requirements under the proposed clause 30C and clause 44 be deferred.

Who it reaches

Tax auditors furnishing Form No. 3CD for the previous year 2017-18
Assessees subject to tax audit under section 44AB
Assessees with arrangements that might attract the anti-avoidance reporting

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.44AB	s.2, s.58, s.63
s.119	s.239

The instrument, as the Board published it

The department publishes this one only as a PDF, so the words below were read out of that PDF by machine. That reading can carry its own mistakes — a misread number, a broken line. Check the signed document before you rely on a figure in it.

Circular No. 6/2018
F. No. 370142/9/2018-TPL
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
TPL Division
****
New Delhi, Dated the 17th of August, 2018

Order under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961

Section 44AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ('the Act') read with rule 6G of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 ('the Rules') requires prescribed persons to furnish the Tax Audit Report along with the prescribed particulars in Form No. 3CD. The existing Form No. 3CD was amended vide notification no. GSR 666(E) dated 20th July, 2018 with effect from 20th August, 2018.

Representations have been received by the Board that the implementation of reporting requirements under the proposed clause 30C (pertaining to General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR)) and proposed clause 44 (pertaining to Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance) of the Form No. 3CD may be deferred.

The matter has been examined and it has been decided by the Board that reporting under the proposed clause 30C and proposed clause 44 of the Tax Audit Report shall be kept in abeyance till 31st March, 2019. Therefore, for Tax Audit Reports to be furnished on or after 20th August, 2018 but before 1st April, 2019, the tax auditors will not be required to furnish details called for under the said clause 30C and clause 44 of the Tax Audit Report.

(Sanyam Suresh Joshi)
DCIT (OSD) (TPL)-III

Copy to:
1. PS to FM/OSD to FM/PS to MoS(F)/OSD to MoS(F)
2. PS to Secretary (Revenue)
3. Chairman, CBDT
4. All Members, CBDT
5. All Pr. DGsIT/Pr. CCsIT
6. All Joint Secretaries/CsIT, CBDT
7. Directors/Deputy Secretaries/Under Secretaries of CBDT
8. DIT (RSP&PR)/Systems, New Delhi
9. The C&AG of India (30 copies)
10. The JS & Legal Adviser, Ministry of Law & Justice, New Delhi
11. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
12. All Chambers of Commerce
13. CIT (M&TP), Official Spokesperson of CBDT
14. O/o Pr. DGIT (Systems) for uploading on official website
15. JCIT (Database Cell) for uploading on departmental website

What to watch

The deferral is for those two clauses only — the rest of the amended Form No. 3CD applied from 20 August 2018.
The window is reports furnished on or after 20 August 2018 but before 1 April 2019; the abeyance in this circular does not run past 31 March 2019, and later circulars carried it forward.
Keeping the reporting in abeyance does not affect the substantive law on the anti-avoidance rules or on goods and services tax.

Where you meet it

When a Form No. 3CD furnished in that window is said to be incomplete for want of the clause 30C or clause 44 particulars.

What it names

Forms it names. Form No. 3CD

Rules it names. Rule 6G of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The 1962 Rules were replaced by the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which renumbered nearly everything: a rule number quoted here almost never means the same rule today.

It mentions. Circular No. 6/2018

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.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. 2/2025 — Extension of due date for filing of form no. 56F under the income tax act 1961 18 February 2025
Circular No. 18/2023 — Circular No. 1 g of 2023 20 October 2023
Circular No. 5/2021 — Order under section 119 of the income tax act 1961 25 March 2021
Circular No. 19/2020 — Condonation of delay under section 119 2 b of the income tax act 1961 in filing of form no. 10BB for assessment year 201 3 November 2020
Circular No. 10/2020 — Order under section 119 of the income tax act 1961 regarding reporting requirement under clause 30C and clause 44 of the 24 April 2020

← F. No. 279/Misc. 142/2007-ITJ (Pt) · Circular No. 5/2018 →

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.