Notification No. 288

What it does

By the Income-tax (11th Amendment) Rules, 2006, made under section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Board of Direct Taxes amends rules 6AB and 12 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 and recasts two forms. In rule 6AB the reference to "Form No. 3B" is substituted by "Form No. 3AE". In sub-rule (1) of rule 12, in the opening portion and in clause (e), the words, brackets, figures and letter "sub-section (4C) of section 139" are substituted by "sub-section (4C) of section 139 or sub-section (4D) of section 139". In Appendix II, Form No. 3A is substituted, and Form No. 3B, relating to the audit report under sub-section (4) of section 35D or sub-section (6) of section 35E, is renumbered as Form No. 3AE.

Who it reaches

assessees furnishing an audit report under sub-section (4) of section 35D or sub-section (6) of section 35E
persons required to furnish a return under sub-section (4D) of section 139, who are now brought within rule 12
accountants signing the renumbered audit report

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.35D	s.44
s.139	s.2, s.263, s.349
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. 288/2006, DATED 19-10-2006
In exercise of 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 (11th Amendment) Rules, 2006.

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

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

(a) in rule 6AB, for the words, figure and letter "Form No. 3B", the words, figure and letters "Form No. 3AE" shall be substituted;

(b) in rule 12, in sub-rule (1), -

(i) in the opening portion, for the words, brackets, figures and letter "sub-section (4C) of section 139", the words, brackets, figures and letters "sub-section (4C) of section 139 or sub-section (4D) of section 139'' shall be substituted;
(ii) in clause (e), for the words, brackets, figures and letter "sub-section (4C) of section 139", the words, brackets, figures and letters "sub-section (4C) of section 139 or sub-section (4D) of section 139'' shall be substituted;

(c) In APPENDIX II

For Form No. 3A, the following Form shall be substituted, namely:–

Form No. 3A

(ii) Form No. 3B relating to audit report under section 35D(4)/35E(6) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 shall be renumbered as Form No. 3AE.

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 6AB	rule 28
Rule 12	rule 164

Forms it touches. Form No. 3B, Form No. 3AE, Form No. 3A

From when

the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

What to watch

The rules come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
The audit report form under sections 35D and 35E is now Form No. 3AE, the old number 3B having been discontinued for that purpose.
Rule 12 now covers returns under sub-section (4D) of section 139 as well as those under sub-section (4C).

Where you meet it

In the audit report accompanying a claim for amortisation under section 35D or deduction under section 35E, and in choosing the return form for a person filing under sub-section (4C) or (4D) of section 139.

What it names

Forms it names. Form No. 3A, Form No. 3AE, Form No. 3B

Rules it names. Rule 12, 6AB 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. 1/2009 — 1/2009 dated 27 03 2009 27 March 2009
Notification No. 236 — Approval of an institution under section 35D of the Income-tax Act, 1961 24 August 2007
Notification No. 1724 — Approval of an institution under section 35D of the Income-tax Act, 1961 16 July 1993
Notification No. 467 — Approval of an institution under section 35D of the Income-tax Act, 1961 23 February 1993
Notification No. 2674 — Approval of an institution under section 35D of the Income-tax Act, 1961 18 September 1992
Notification No. 1952 — Approval of an institution under section 35D of the Income-tax Act, 1961 11 March 1986

← Notification No. 289 · Notification No. 287 →

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.

What this is