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 (TDS) certificate under section 203 of the Act for the quarter ending 31st December 2025

What this is

Circular No. 2/2026 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 25 March 2026. Its subject is Order under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for extension of timeline for issuance of tax deducted at source (TDS) certificate under section 203 of the Act for the quarter ending 31st December 2025.

This is an extension of time. It moves a date that the Act or the Rules otherwise fix, and it does so only for the compliance and the period it names — not for anything else that happens to fall due at the same time.

What it does

Extends the time for issuing TDS certificates under section 203 read with rule 31 for the quarter ending 31 December 2025 to 31 March 2026. A certificate issued within that extended window is treated as issued within the prescribed time. The relief is given under section 119 and is confined to that one quarter.

Why it was issued

Representations reported that technical glitches on the e-filing portal prevented deductors from generating and issuing the certificates in time, which the Board accepted as genuine hardship.

Who it reaches

Deductors who could not download Form No. 16A for the quarter ending 31 December 2025
Employers and payers facing late-certificate complaints from deductees
Payees waiting for a certificate to support a credit claim

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.203	s.395

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. 2026 F. No.: 275/10/2026-IT (8) Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Direct Taxes New Delhi, dated 22 March, 2026 Subject: Order under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for extension of timeline for issuance of tax deducted at source (TDS) certificate under section 203 of the Act for the quarter ending 31st December 2025 - reg. Section 203 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ("the Act") provides for issuance of TDS certificate. The time limits for issuance of TDS certificate is prescribed under Rule 31 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 ("the Rules"). 2. Representations have been received by the Central Board of Direct Taxes ("the Board") regarding delay in issuance of TDS certificates for the quarter ending 31st December, 2025, due to technical glitches on the e-filing portal. On account of such glitches, deductors have faced difficulties in generating and issuing the certificates within the prescribed time. 3. In view of the genuine hardship faced by the deductors, the Board, in exercise of its powers under section 119 of the Act, hereby extends the due date for issuance of TDS certificate under section 203 of the Act read with rule 31 of the Rules for the said quarter to 31st March, 2026. TDS certificate issued within the extended period shall be treated as having been issued within the prescribed time. Deputy Secretary, IT -Budget CBDT Copy to: 1. The Chairman & Members, CBDT 2. All Pr.CCsIT, CCsIT/ DGsIT. 3. All Joint Secretaries/CsIT, CBDT. 4. Commissioner of Income-tax (Media & TP) and official Spokesperson, CBDT, New Delhi. 5. ADG (PR, P&P) for necessary action. 6. JCIT, Database Cell, with a request to upload the order on the website www.irsofficersonline.gov.in. 7. Web Manager, O/o DGIT(Systems) with request to upload on the departmental website of www.incometaxindia.gov.in. 8. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, IP Estate, New Delhi 9. All Chambers of Commerce. 10. Hindi Cell for translation. 11. The Guard File. Deputy Secretary, IT -Budget CBDT

What to watch

The extension is for one quarter only — the quarter ending 31 December 2025 — and does not touch any other quarter.
It extends the certificate date under section 203, not the date for filing the quarterly TDS statement.
The extended date, 31 March 2026, has passed, so the circular is spent; it survives only as an answer to a late-issue allegation for that quarter.
Nothing here waives interest or fee for any other default; only the certificate timeline moves.

Where you meet it

When a penalty under section 272A(2)(g) or a departmental query alleges late issue of a TDS certificate for the December 2025 quarter, or when a deductee complains about a certificate received after the ordinary due date.

What it names

Rules it names. Rule 31 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.

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.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. 5/2025 — Circular No. f)"" /2025 28 March 2025

← Circular No. 3/2026 · Circular No. 1/2026 →

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.