Circular No. 15/2022

Condonation of delay under section 119 2 b of the income tax act 1961 in filing of form no. 10BB for assessment year 2018 19 and subsequent years

What this is

Circular No. 15/2022 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 19 July 2022. Its subject is Condonation of delay under section 119 2 b of the income tax act 1961 in filing of form no. 10BB for assessment year 2018 19 and subsequent years.

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

Extends the authority to condone delay in filing Form No. 10BB one step up the ladder. Circular No. 19/2020 dated 3 November 2020 had authorised Commissioners of Income-tax to admit and decide applications under section 119(2)(b) for years before assessment year 2018-19, on being satisfied that the applicant was prevented by reasonable cause, and to admit applications where the delay was up to 365 days for assessment year 2018-19 or any later year. This circular adds that where the delay for assessment year 2018-19 or any later year runs beyond 365 days and up to three years, Principal Chief Commissioners and Chief Commissioners of Income-tax are authorised to admit the application under section 119(2) and decide it on merits.

Why it was issued

To carry forward the delegation already made to field authorities, so that longer delays in filing Form No. 10BB could be dealt with in the field rather than by the Board.

Who it reaches

Trusts, institutions, universities and hospitals required to file Form No. 10BB with the return
Institutions whose exemption was denied because the audit report was filed late
Commissioners handling delays up to 365 days
Principal Chief Commissioners and Chief Commissioners handling delays beyond that

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. The reading also stopped short of the end of the document: what is below is the opening, not the whole of it.

F.No.197/89/2022-IT A-I
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
Circular No. 15/2022
New Delhi the 19th July, 2022
Sub: Condonation of delay under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in filing
of Form No. 10BB for Assessment Year 2018-19 and subsequent yea rs - Reg.
In exercise of the powers conferred under section 119(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961
(hereinafter referred to as 'Act'), the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) by Circular No.
19/2020 dated 3rd November, 2020 issued by F.No. 19711 35/2020-ITA-I has directed that: -
(i) In all the cases of applications for condonation of delay in filing of Form No. 10BB
for years prior to A Y. 2018- 19, the Commissioners of Income-tax are authorized to
admit applications for condonation of delay uls 119(2)(b) of the Act. The
Commissioner while entertaining such applications regarding filing Form No.
LOBB shall satisfy themselves that the applicant was prevented by reasonable cause
from filing such Form within the stipulated time.
(ii) where there is delay of upto 365 days in filing Form No. 10BB for Assessment
Year 2018-19 or for any subsequent Assessment Years, the Commissioners of
Income-tax are authorized to admit such applications of condonation of delay
under section 119(2) of the Act and decide on merits.
2. Further to the powers delegated to the field authorities as discussed above, the CBDT
hereby directs that where there is delay of beyond 365 days upto three years in filing Form
No. 10BB for Assessment Year 2018-19 or for any subsequent Assessment Years, the Pr.
Chief Commissioners of Income-tax 1 Chief Commissioners of Income-tax are authorized to
admit such applications of condonation of delay under section 119(2) of the Act and decide on
merits.

What to watch

The authority is banded by length of delay: up to 365 days it is the Commissioner, beyond that and up to three years the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner. Applying to the wrong authority costs time.
Delay beyond three years is outside what this circular delegates, and has to be taken elsewhere.
The relaxation is only about who may condone; the applicant must still show reasonable cause and the application is decided on merits.
Condonation is of the delay in filing Form No. 10BB alone; it does not by itself establish the exemption claimed.

Where you meet it

Where a trust's exemption has been denied at processing because Form No. 10BB went in after the due date, and an application to condone that delay has to be made to the right authority.

What it names

Forms it names. Form No. 10BB

It mentions. Circular No. 15/2022, Circular No. 19/2020

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. 18/2022 · Circular No. 16/2022 →

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.