Notification No. 294

Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 203A of the Income-tax Act, 1961

What this is

Notification No. 294 was published on 8 December 2004. Its subject is Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 203A 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

The Central Board of Direct Taxes, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, makes the Income-tax (20th Amendment) Rules, 2004, amending the Income-tax Rules, 1962. Rule 114A is substituted. As substituted, an application under sub-section (1) of section 203A for allotment of a tax deduction and collection account number is to be made in duplicate in Form No. 49B, to the Assessing Officer to whom the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner has assigned the function of allotment under section 203A or, in any other case, to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction to assess the applicant. Where the person deducted or collected tax under Chapter XVII, heading B or BB, before the 1st day of October, 2004, the application is to be made on or before the 31st day of January, 2005; where he deducts or collects on or after the 1st day of October, 2004, it is to be made within one month from the end of the month in which the tax was deducted or collected, or the 31st day of January, 2005, whichever is later. In Appendix II, Form No. 49B is substituted.

Who it reaches

persons deducting tax at source under Chapter XVII, heading B
persons collecting tax at source under Chapter XVII, heading BB
Assessing Officers to whom the allotment function under section 203A has been assigned
Chief Commissioners and Commissioners assigning that function

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.203A	s.397
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 : 294

Section(s) Referred : Section 295

Date of Issue : 8/12/2004

Notification No. 294 of 2004, dt. 8th Dec., 2004

S.O. 1340 (E). -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.

These rules may be called the Income-tax (20th Amendment) Rules, 2004.
They shall come into force from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In the Income-tax Rules, 1962,- (A) for rule 114A, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:- Application for allotment of a tax deduction and collection account number

114A. (1) An application under sub-section (1) of section 203A for the allotment of a tax deduction and collection account number shall be made in duplicate in Form No.49B.

(2) An application referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be made,—

in cases where the function of allotment of tax deduction and collection account number under section 203A has been assigned by the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner to any particular Assessing Officer, to that Assessing Officer;
in any other case, to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction to assess the applicant.

(3) The application referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be made,—

(i) in a case where a person has deducted tax or collected tax in accordance with the provisions of Chapter XVII under the heading ‘B.—Deduction at source’ or ‘BB.- Collection at source’, as the case may be, prior to the 1st day of October, 2004, on or before the 31st day of January, 2005;

(ii) in a case where a person has,-

(a) deducted or deducts tax in accordance with the provisions of Chapter XVII under the heading ‘B.—Deduction at source’; or
(b) collected or collects tax in accordance with the provisions of Chapter XVII under the heading ‘BB.- Collection at source’,

on or after the 1st day of October, 2004, within one month from the end of the month in which the tax was deducted or collected, as the case may be, or the 31st day of January, 2005, whichever is later;

(B) in Appendix II, for Form No.49B, the following Form shall be substituted, namely:-

Form No. 49B

Note.- The principal rules were published vide Notification No.S.O.969(E), dated the 26 th March, 1962 and last amended by Income-tax (19th Amendment) Rules, 2004 vide Notification S.O. No.1334 (E) dated 7.12.2004.

F.No.142/32/2004-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 114A	rule 216

Forms it touches. Form No. 49B

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.
For deductions or collections made before 1st October, 2004, the outer date for applying is 31st January, 2005.
For deductions or collections on or after 1st October, 2004, the period is one month from the end of the month of deduction or collection, but never earlier than 31st January, 2005.
The application must be in duplicate, and Form No. 49B as substituted is the form to be used.
The principal rules were published by S.O. 969(E) dated 26th March, 1962 and were last amended by the Income-tax (19th Amendment) Rules, 2004, vide S.O. 1334(E) dated 7.12.2004.

Where you meet it

In applying for a tax deduction and collection account number in Form No. 49B, and in a penalty or default proceeding for failure to apply for one.

An example

Ours, not the Board’s: a worked case built from the rule the instrument sets, to show how it falls out.

A person who first deducts tax in December 2004 must apply in Form No. 49B within one month from the end of December 2004, that is by 31st January, 2005, or by 31st January, 2005, whichever is later, so the date is 31st January, 2005. A person who first deducts in March 2005 must apply by 30th April, 2005, that being later than 31st January, 2005.

What it names

Forms it names. Form No. 49B

Rules it names. Rule 114A 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. 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
Circular No. 579 — Financial Year 1990-91 14 September 1990
Circular No. 497 — Section 203A l TAX Deduction Account Number 1 October 1987
Notification No. 54/2026 [F. No. 370142/15/2026-TPL] / G.S.R. 240(E) — Ministry of Finance 31 March 2026
Notification No. 52/2026 [F.No. 370142/13/2026-TPL] / G.S.R. 233(E) — (Central Board of Direct Taxes) 30 March 2026

← Notification No. 01 · Notification No. 291 →

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.