Notification No. 261

Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 120 of the Income-tax Act, 1961

What this is

Notification No. 261 was published on 15 December 2005. Its subject is Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 120 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 sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 120 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, amends the jurisdiction notification S.O. 994(E) dated 9th September, 2004, by substituting the whole Schedule to it. The substituted Schedule sets out, against each serial number, the designation of the Transfer Pricing Officer, his headquarters, the territorial area and the persons or class of persons over whom he is to exercise jurisdiction. The Delhi Transfer Pricing Officers are given the areas within the territorial limits of Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh; the Mumbai officers, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Daman and Diu; the Bangalore officer, Karnataka and Goa; the Hyderabad officer, Andhra Pradesh; the Chennai officers, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; and the Kolkata officers, Kolkata, the North East Region, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. In each case the persons covered are those assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of an Assessing Officer having his office in the territorial area in column (4).

Who it reaches

Joint Commissioners of Income-tax working as Transfer Pricing Officers at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata
Assessing Officers referring international transactions for determination of arm's length price
assessees whose cases are referred to a Transfer Pricing Officer
persons assessed or assessable in the territorial areas set out in the Schedule

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.120	s.241, s.243

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. 261/2005, DATED 15-12-2005

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 120 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby makes the following amendments in the notification of Government of India, Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), (Central Board of Direct Taxes), number S.O. 994(E) dated the 9th September, 2004, namely:-

In the said notification, for the Schedule, the following Schedule shall be substituted, namely:-

SCHEDULE

Serial Number

Designation of Income-tax Authorities

Head Quarter

Territorial Area

Persons or Class of persons

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

1.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-I), Delhi

Delhi

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

2.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-II), Delhi

Delhi

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

3.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-I), Mumbai

Mumbai

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Daman & Diu.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

4.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-II), Mumbai

Mumbai

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Daman & Diu.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

5.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-III), Mumbai

Mumbai

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Daman & Diu.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

6.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-I), Bangalore

Bangalore

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Karnataka and Goa.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

7.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer), Hyderabad

Hyderabad

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Andhra Pradesh.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

8.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-I), Chennai

Chennai

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry, Lakshwadweep, Andaman & Niccobar Islands.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

9.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-II), Chennai

Chennai

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry, Lakshwadweep, Andaman & Niccobar Islands.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

10.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-I), Kolkata

Kolkata

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Kolkata, North East Region, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

11.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-II), Kolkata

Kolkata

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Kolkata, North East Region, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

12.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-III), Delhi

Delhi

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

13.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-IV), Mumbai

Mumbai

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Daman & Diu.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

14.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-II), Bangalore

Bangalore

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Karnataka and Goa.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

15.

Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing Officer-V), Mumbai

Mumbai

Areas lying within the territorial limits of states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Daman & Diu.

Persons or class of persons who are assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of Assessing Officer having their office in the territorial area indicated in Column 4.

Note:- The Central Board of Direct Taxes empowers the concerned Directors of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing) to distribute the work amongst the Transfer Pricing Officers working under them while exercising their powers and performing their functions.

F.No.187/11/2005-ITA-I

What to watch

The notification states no date of commencement of its own; it is dated 15th December, 2005.
The whole Schedule is substituted, so the earlier Schedule to S.O. 994(E) dated 9th September, 2004 stands replaced.
Jurisdiction follows the office of the Assessing Officer: the Transfer Pricing Officer takes the persons assessed or assessable within the jurisdiction of an Assessing Officer having his office in the territorial area in column (4).
Several officers share the same territorial area, so the Schedule alone does not allocate a particular case between them.

Where you meet it

In a reference made to a Transfer Pricing Officer for determination of the arm's length price, and in an objection that the officer who passed the order lacked jurisdiction over the case.

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.

Notification No. 155/2025 [F. No. CB/362/2025-O/o Addl. DIT 6 CPC Bengaluru-187/10/2024-ITA-I] /SO 4901(E) — [भाग II—खण् ड 3(ii)] भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण 3 27 October 2025
Notification No. 50/2024 [F. No. 187/6/2024-TPL] / SO 2209(E) — Minstry of Finance 6 June 2024
Notification No. 47/2023 [F. No. 187/3/2020-ITA-I] / SO 2992(E) — Ministry of Finance 6 July 2023
Notification No. 14/2023 [F. No. 279/Misc./66/2014-ITJ(Pt.)] / SO 1329(E) — Ministry of Finance 21 March 2023
Notification No. 10/2023 [F.No. 187/3/2020-ITA-I] / SO 951(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(ii)] 1 March 2023
Notification No.121/2022 [F.No.187/3/2020-ITA-I] / SO 5255(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(ii)] 14 November 2022

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.