Notification No. 204

Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 206 of the Income-tax Act, 1961

What this is

Notification No. 204 was published on 26 August 2003. Its subject is Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 206 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

This amends the Income-tax Rules. What it changes is the Rules, not the Act — and a rule can never take away what the section gives.

What it does

In exercise of the powers under section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Board of Direct Taxes makes the Income-tax (Sixteenth Amendment) Rules, 2003, substituting rule 37B in Part VI of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 and substituting Form No. 27A in Appendix II. The substituted rule 37B deals with returns of tax deducted at source on computer media under sub-section (2) of section 206. Sub-rule (1) requires a person responsible for deducting tax under Chapter XVII-B who must file a return or statement referred to in rule 37 or rule 37A on computer media to deliver it in accordance with such scheme as the Board may specify, within the time specified under rule 37 or rule 37A. Sub-rule (2) requires the computer media return to contain all the information required under rule 37 or rule 37A. Sub-rule (3) requires it to be accompanied by Form No. 27A furnishing the information specified therein.

Who it reaches

persons responsible for deducting tax at source under Chapter XVII-B
deductors filing annual returns on computer media
the Board in specifying the scheme for computer media filing
assessing officers receiving such returns

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.206	no counterpart recorded
s.295	s.533

The instrument, as the Board published it

The words below are the department’s own, reproduced from its published text. Where the department’s copy carried a publisher’s notes after the instrument, those are not reproduced.

Notification No : 204

Section(s) Referred :

Date of Issue : 26/8/2003

Notification No. 204 of 2003, dt. 26th Aug, 2003

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Income-tax Rules, 1962, namely:

1. (1) These rules may be called the Income-tax (Sixteenth Amendment) Rules, 2003.

(2) They shall come into force from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In the Income-tax Rules, 1962,--

(a) in Part VI, for rule 37B, the following rule shall be substituted, namely;

"37B Returns regarding tax deducted at source on computer media under subsection (2) of section 206--(1). Where a person responsible for deducting tax under Chapter XVII-B is required to file any return or statement referred to in rule 37 or rule 37A on a computer media, he shall deliver or cause to be delivered such return or statement in accordance with such scheme as may be specified by the Board in this behalf within the time specified under rule 37 or rule 37A, as the case may be,

(2) The return or statement filed on a computer media shall contain all the information required under rule 37 or rule 37A, as the case may be.

(3) The return or statement filed on computer media shall be accompanied by Form No. 27A furnishing the information specified therein.";

(b) in Appendix II, for Form No. 27A, the following Form shall be substituted.

[F.No. 142/31/2003-TPL]

What it changes

The rule numbers are the 1962 Rules’ own, as the notification names them. The right-hand column is the department’s own mapping into the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which renumbered nearly everything.

Rule of the 1962 Rules	Now, in the 2026 Rules
Rule 37	rule 203
Rule 37A	no counterpart recorded
Rule 37B	no counterpart recorded

Forms it touches. Form No. 27A

From when

the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

What to watch

The rules come into force from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.
The manner of delivery is governed by a scheme to be specified by the Board, so the rule alone does not state the technical requirements.
The time limit remains that under rule 37 or rule 37A; filing on computer media does not extend it.
Every computer media return must be accompanied by the substituted Form No. 27A.

Where you meet it

In the deductor's annual TDS filing on computer media and in the accompanying Form No. 27A handed over at the receiving counter.

What it names

Forms it names. Form No. 27A

Rules it names. Rule 37, 37A, 37B 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.

Press Release, dated 26-12-2012 — Frequently Asked Tax Questions by Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs)1 26 December 2012
Notification No. 209 — A notification under section 206 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 11 August 2006
Notification No. 179 — A notification under section 139A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 30 June 2005
Circular No. 4/2005 — 4/2005 dated 06 04 2005 27 June 2005
Circular No. 8/2003 — Filing of returns relating to Tax Deduction at Source on computer media 19 September 2003
Notification No. 205 — Following Scheme for electronic filing of return of tax deducted at source specified under section 139A 26 August 2003

← Notification No. 205 · Notification No. 203 →

What a notification is. A notification is made under a power the Act itself gives, and within that power it is law — unlike a circular, which only binds the department. Its reach is the reach of the enabling provision and no wider, and the date it carries decides from when it works.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.