Circular No. 2/2023 — Corrigendum to circular no. 23…

What this is

Circular No. 2/2023 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 6 February 2023. Its subject is Corrigendum to circular no. 23 of 2022 dated 03.11.2022 explanatory notes to finance act 2022.

These are the Board’s explanatory notes to a Finance Act. They are the department’s account of what the amendments were meant to do, and they are cited constantly — but the words of the Act govern where the two part.

What it does

Corrects a single phrase in the explanatory notes to the Finance Act, 2022 issued as Circular No. 23 of 2022 dated 3 November 2022. In sub-point (iii) of point (1) of sub-paragraph (A) of paragraph 28.5, the words "two assessment years preceding such assessment year" are to be read as "any assessment year preceding such assessment year".

Why it was issued

The explanatory notes as first issued did not state the position correctly, and the Board issued a corrigendum to set the wording right.

Who it reaches

Anyone relying on paragraph 28.5 of the explanatory notes to the Finance Act, 2022
Assessing officers and representatives citing those notes in a proceeding

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 370142/49/2022-TPL
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
(TPL Division)
*****
Circular No. 02./2023
New Delhi, the 6th February, 2023
CORRIGENDUM TO CIRCULAR NO. 23 OF 2022 DATED 03.11.2022 -
EXPLANATORY NOTES TO FINANCE ACT, 2022
The Finance Act, 2022 as passed by the Parliament, received the assent of the President on 30th
March, 2022 and has been enacted as Act No. 6 of 2022. The Explanatory notes to the Finance
Act, 2022, explaining the amendments made in direct tax laws vide the Finance Act, 2022 were
issued vide Circular no. 23 of 2022 dated 03 .11.2022. In the said circular, in sub-point (iii) of the
point (1) of sub-paragraph (A) of paragraph 28.5, the words "two assessment years preceding
such assessment year" shall be read as "any assessment year preceding such assessment year".
Copy to:
,.~j~ (p. Amrutha varshini)
Under Secretary to the Govt. of India
1. PS to FMI OSD to FMI PS to MoS(F)1 OSD to MoS(F)
2. PPS to Secretary (Revenue)
3. Chairman, CBDT & All Members, CBDT
4. All Pro DGsITI Pro CsIT
5. All Joint Secretariesl CsITI Directorsl Deputy Secretariesl Under Secretaries of CBDT
6. The C&AG of Indial
7. The JS & Legal Adviser, Ministry of Law & Justice, New Delhi
8. CIT (M&TP), Official Spokesperson of CBDT
9. 0/0 Pro DGIT (Systems) for uploading on official website CIT (Database Cell) for
uploading on www.irsofficersonline.gov.in

What to watch

This changes nothing in the statute; it repairs the Board's own commentary, and the Finance Act, 2022 as enacted governs.
A copy of Circular No. 23 of 2022 printed before February 2023 carries the uncorrected sentence, so check which version is being quoted.
The correction widens the reach from two preceding assessment years to any preceding assessment year, which is a substantive difference in how the note reads.

Where you meet it

When the explanatory notes to the Finance Act, 2022 are cited in an assessment or an appeal on the amendment dealt with at paragraph 28.5.

What it names

It mentions. Circular No. 23/2022

← Circular No. 3/2023 · Circular No. 1/2023 →

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.