Circular No. 18/2023 — Circular No. 1 g of 2023

What this is

Circular No. 18/2023 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 20 October 2023. Its subject is Circular No. 1 g of 2023.

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

Extends the date for filing the accountant's report required under clause (8) of section 10AA read with clause (5) of section 10A for assessment year 2023-24. The report may be filed up to 31 December 2023 in place of the specified date under section 44AB. The extension is an order under section 119, made in exercise of the power in section 119(2)(b).

Why it was issued

Form No. 56F was notified only on 19 October 2023, and taxpayers and other stakeholders were finding it difficult to file the report in time; the Board acted to avoid genuine hardship.

Who it reaches

Special economic zone units claiming deduction under section 10AA for assessment year 2023-24
Assessees whose Form No. 56F could not be filed by the section 44AB specified date
Accountants certifying the section 10AA deduction

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. 1 g of 2023
F.No. 370142140/2023-TPL
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
Dated the 20lh October, 2023
Order under section 119 ofthe Income-tax Act
On consideration of difficulties arising to the taxpayers and other stakeholders in timely filing
of report of accountant required to be filed under clause (8) of section I OAA read with clause
(5) of section lOA of the Income -tax Act, 1961 on account of notification of relevant Form
56F on 19.10.2023 and with a view to avoid genuine hardship to such cases, the Central Board
of Direct Taxes, in exercise of its powers under] 19(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 , hereby
extends the due date of filing of report of the accountant as required to be filed under clause
(8) of section I OAA read with clause (5) of section lOA of the Act, for Assessment Year 2023-
24 from the specified date under section 44AB to 3]St of December, 2023.
Under Secretary
(Amto ~ the Govt. ofIndia
Copy to:
1) OSD to FMJ PS to MOS (R)
2) PS to Secretary (Revenue)
3) Chairman (DT), All Members, Central Board of Direct Taxes
4) All Pr CCsITI, Pr DsGIT/DsGITICCslT
5) All Joint Secretaries/CslT, CBDT
6) ADG (PR, P&P) for necessary action.
7) DGIT (Systems), New Delhi/Bangalore, for appropriate change in the software of the
System.
8) The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, I P Estate, New Delhi-II 0002
9) CIT (Media), Official Spokesperson ofCBDT
10) Database Cell with a request to upload the order on the website www.irsofficersonline.gov.in.
II) Web Manager, National Website, for uploading the Order on the website for
wider publicity.

What to watch

The relief covers assessment year 2023-24 only.
It moves the date for the accountant's report alone and does not extend the return date or any other audit report.
The extended date, 31 December 2023, has passed, so the circular now serves only to defend a report filed within that window.
The text is a poor scan - the circular number reads as '1 g of 2023' and the section numbers are mangled - so verify the reference before citing it.

Where you meet it

Where a section 10AA deduction for assessment year 2023-24 is disallowed in processing or in assessment on the footing that Form No. 56F was late.

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. 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
Circular No. 9/2019 — ( F. No. 370142/9/2018-TPL 14 May 2019

← Circular No. 19/2023 · Circular No. 17/2023 →

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.