Circular No. 7/2021

Condonation of delay under section 119 2 b of the income tax act 1961 in filing of form no. 10B for years prior to AY 2018 19

What this is

Circular No. 7/2021 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 26 March 2021. Its subject is Condonation of delay under section 119 2 b of the income tax act 1961 in filing of form no. 10B for years prior to AY 2018 19.

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

Amends the disposal timeline for applications to condone delay in filing Form No. 10B for years before assessment year 2018-19. In partial modification of Circular No. 28/2019 dated 27 September 2019 read with Circular No. 10/2019 dated 22 May 2019, the last sentence of paragraph 4(ii) of Circular No. 10/2019 is to be read as requiring that all pending applications and all applications received thereafter be disposed of preferably within three months from the end of the month in which the application is received. The modification takes effect from 31 March 2021.

Why it was issued

It was brought to the notice of the Board that the Exemption Charges were continuously receiving applications for condonation of delay in filing Form No. 10B for years prior to assessment year 2018-19.

Who it reaches

Charitable trusts that filed Form No. 10B late for years before assessment year 2018-19
Commissioners of Income-tax (Exemptions) disposing of section 119(2)(b) applications
Advisers chasing long-pending condonation petitions

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

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. 197/49/2021 -ITA-1
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
Circular No. 7- /2 021
North Block, New Delhi, the ;J{, March, 2021
Sub: Condonation of delay under section 119(2)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961
in filing of Form No. lOB for years prior to AY 2018-19- Reg.

It has been brought to the notice of the Board that the Exem ption Charges are
continuously receiving applications for condonation of delay in filing Form lOB for
years prior to A Y 20 I 8-I 9.

2. In view of the above, in partial modification of Circu lar No 28/20 19 dated
27.09.2019 read with Circular NO.I0/20 19 dated 22.05.2019, the last sentence of Para
4(ii) of Circular No. 10/20 I 9 may be read as under:
" Further, all such pending applications as well as applications received henceforth
shall be disposed off preferably within three months from the end of the month in which
the application is received. "

3. This modification takes effect from 3 I" day of March, 202 1.

Copy to:
1. PS to FM/OSD to FM/PS to MoS (R)/OSD to MoS(R)
2. PS to Secretary(Finance)/(Revenue)
3. Chairman, CBDT & All Members, CBDT
~lo~ 1
[Guizar Ahmad Wani]
JCIT(OSD)(ITA-l )

4. All Principal Chief Commissioners of Income-tax I Pri ncipal Director Generals of
Income-tax.
5. Pr. Chief Controller of Accounts, New Delhi
6. All Joint Secretaries/CslT, CBDT
7. Web Manager, DIO PrDGIT(Systems) with request to upload on the departmental
website.
8. Commissioner of Income-tax (Media & TP) and official Spokesperson, CBDT,
New Delh i.
9. Secretary General, IRS Association! Secretary General, ITGOA! All - India Income
Tax SC & ST Employees' Welfare Association I Income Tax Employees Federation
(ITEF).
10. Add!. CIT, Data-Base Cell for uploading on IRS officer's website.

Sci
[Guizar Ahmad Wani]
JCIT(OSD)(ITA-I)

What to watch

Only the disposal timeline changes; the substantive conditions for condonation in Circular No. 10/2019 stay as they are.
The three-month period is expressed as a preference, not as an outer limit that voids a later order.
It is confined to Form No. 10B for years prior to assessment year 2018-19, so a later year's delay is governed elsewhere.
The circular number and the date in the scanned copy supplied are partly broken, so check the citation before quoting it in a petition.

Where you meet it

In following up a section 119(2)(b) condonation application before the Commissioner (Exemptions) where a trust's exemption turns on a late Form No. 10B.

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. 6/2021 · Circular No. 5/2021 →

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.