Circular No. 9/2018

Extending the due date for furnishing of report under section 286 4 of the income tax act 1961

What this is

Circular No. 9/2018 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 26 December 2018. Its subject is Extending the due date for furnishing of report under section 286 4 of the income tax act 1961.

This is an order under section 119 of the 1961 Act — section 239 of the 2025 Act. Section 119 lets the Board give directions to its own officers and, in defined cases, relax a requirement. It is an administrative power, not a power to rewrite the charge.

What it does

As a one-time measure under section 119, extends to 31 March 2019 the time for a constituent entity to furnish the Country-by-Country report under section 286(4) for reporting accounting years ending up to 28 February 2018. The extension is for constituent entities falling under clause (a) or clause (aa) of that sub-section. It follows the substitution of rule 10DB(4) by GSR 1217(E) dated 18 December 2018, which set the ordinary period at twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year, and six months from the end of the month in which a systemic failure in the parent's jurisdiction is intimated to the constituent entity.

Why it was issued

Representations were received that an Indian constituent entity whose parent is resident in a jurisdiction with no exchange agreement and whose reporting accounting year is the calendar year would have had to file by 31 December 2018, and that for a reporting accounting year ending 31 March 2017 the filing date of 31 March 2018 had already gone, which was not workable.

Who it reaches

Indian constituent entities of international groups required to file Form No. 3CEAD-type reports under section 286(4)
Groups whose parent is resident where no agreement for exchange of the report exists
Constituent entities with calendar-year reporting accounting years
Entities notified of a systemic failure in the parent's jurisdiction

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.286	s.511

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.

F No 370142/17/2018 -TPL
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
****
Circular No. 9/2018
New Delhi. Dated December 26. 2018
Order under section 119 of the Income-tax Act. 1961
Vide Notification in GSR 1217 (E) dated December 18. 2018 with effect from the date
of its publication in the Official Gazette. i.e .. December 18. 2018: amendments to the
Income-tax Rules. 1962 (the Rules) have been carried out and sub-rule (4) of Rule lODB has
been substituted: to provide that the period for furnishing of the report under sub-section (4)
of section 286 of the Income-tax Act. 1961 (the Act) by the constituent entity referred to in
that sub-section shall be twelve months from the end of the reporting accounting year.

1.1 It has been further provided that in case the parent entity of the constituent entity is
resident of a country or territory. where. there has been a systemic failure of the country or
territory and the said failure has been intimated to such constituent entity. the period for
submission of the report shall be six months from the end of the month in which said systemic
failure has been intimated.

2. Representations from the stakeholders have been received by the Central Board of
Direct Taxes (the Board) in the matter. It has been. inter alia. stated that the constituent
entity of an international group. which is resident in India. having parent entity resident in
jurisdictions with which India does not have an agreement providing for exchange of the
report of the nature referred to in sub-section (2) of the Act and where the reporting
accounting year is calendar year based. i.e .. ending on December 31 of the year. would
need to furnish the report under sub-section (4) of section 286 of the Act in India by
December 31 . 2018.

2.1 It has also been represented that read with the amendment to section 286 of the
Act and the substituted sub-rule (4) of rule 10DB of the Rules. the constituent entity in such
case for reporting accounting year ending on March 31 . 2017 would have been required to
furnish the CbCR by March 31. 2018 which is not plausible.

3. In order to remove the genuine hardship in furnishing of the report under sUb-section
(4) of section 286 of the Act read with sub-rule (4) of rule lODB of the Rules caused as
above. and as a one-time measure. the Board. in exercise of powers conferred under
section 119 of the Act. extend the period for furnishing of said report by the constituent
entities referred to under clause (a) or (00) of said sub-section. in respect of reporting
accounting years ending upto February 28. 2018. to March 31. 2019.

(Niraj Kurnar)
Under Secretary to the Government of India

Copy to:
1. PSI OSD to FMI PS/OSD to MoS(F)
2. PS to Revenue Secretary
3. Chairman and Members. CBDT
4. All Joint Secretariesl CsIT. CBDT
5. Directors/ Deputy Secretaries/ Under Secretaries of CBDT
6. DIT (RSP&PR)/Systems. New Delhi
7. The C&AG of India (30 copies)
8. The JS & Legal Adviser. Ministry of Law & Justice. New Delhi
9. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
10. CIT (M&TP). Official Spokesperson of CBDT
11. % Pro DGIT (Systems) for uploading on official website

What to watch

The extension is confined to reporting accounting years ending up to 28 February 2018; a later year runs on the ordinary rule 10DB(4) period.
It covers only constituent entities under clause (a) or clause (aa) of section 286(4).
It is expressly a one-time measure and the extended date of 31 March 2019 has passed, so the circular is spent except as a defence to penalty for that period.
The scanned text prints rule 10DB as 'Rule lODB' and clause (aa) as '(00)'; read those as rule 10DB and clause (aa).

Where you meet it

You meet it in a penalty proceeding under the Country-by-Country reporting provisions for a late report for a reporting accounting year ending in 2016-17 or 2017-18.

What it names

Rules it names. Rule 10DB 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. 9/2018

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. 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. 10/2018 · Circular No. 8/2018 →

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.