Notification No. 71

Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2006 - Substitution of rule 31AC and Form No

What this is

Notification No. 71 was published on 17 March 2006. Its subject is Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2006 - Substitution of rule 31AC and Form No.

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

By the Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2006, made under section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Board of Direct Taxes substitutes, in Part VI of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, rule 31AC by two rules, and substitutes Form No. 26QA in Appendix II by Form No. 26QA and Form No. 26QAA. New rule 31AC requires every branch of a banking company that must make a quarterly return under sub-section (1) of section 206A in respect of interest on time deposits paid without deduction of tax at source to keep and maintain the particulars of such time deposits in Form No. 26QA, and, where the branch maintains its daily accounts on computer media, to keep those particulars on computer readable media. New rule 31ACA provides that the quarterly return under sub-section (1) of section 206A shall be in Form No. 26QAA, verified in the manner indicated therein, and shall be furnished to the Director General of Income-tax (Investigation), New Delhi or the person authorised by him, on or before 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 30 June following the respective quarter of the financial year.

Who it reaches

branches of banking companies paying interest on time deposits without deduction of tax at source
the person responsible in the bank for furnishing the quarterly return
the Director General of Income-tax (Investigation), New Delhi, who receives the 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.206A	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. 71/2006, DATED 17-3-2006
Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2006 - Substitution of rule 31AC and Form No. 26QA
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 (Second Amendment) Rules, 2006.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the Income-tax Rules, 1962,—
(a) in Part VI, for rule 31AC, the following rules shall be substituted, namely:—
"31AC. Maintenance of particulars of time deposits by a banking company for furnishing quarterly return under section 206A.—(1) Every branch of a banking company, which is required to make a quarterly return under sub-section (1) of section 206A in respect of interest on time deposits without deduction of tax at source, shall keep and maintain the particulars of such time deposits in Form No. 26QA.
(2) Every branch referred to in sub-rule (1) which is maintaining its daily accounts on computer media, shall keep and maintain the particulars in Form No. 26QA on computer readable media.
31ACA. Quarterly return under section 206A.—(1) The quarterly return to be furnished by a banking company under sub-section (1) of section 206A in respect of time deposits shall be in Form No. 26QAA and shall be verified in the manner indicated therein.
(2) The quarterly return referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be furnished,—
(i) to the Director General of Income-tax (Investigation), New Delhi or the person authorised by the Director General of Income-tax (Investigation), New Delhi;
(ii) on or before the 31st July, the 31st October, the 31st January and the 30th June following the respective quarter of the financial year.
(3) The quarterly return comprising Part A and Part B of Form No. 26QAA, referred to in sub-rule (1), shall be furnished on computer readable media being a CD-ROM (650 MB or higher capacity) or Digital Video Disc (DVD), along with Part-A of such Form on paper.
(4) The person responsible for furnishing the return referred to in sub-rule (1) shall ensure that—
(i) where the data relating to the return is copied using data compression or backup software utility, the corresponding software utility or procedure for its decompression or restoration shall also be furnished along with the return made on computer readable media;
(ii) the return is accompanied with a certificate regarding clean and virus free data.
Explanation.—For the purposes of rule 31AC and rule 31ACA, "time deposits" means deposits (excluding recurring deposits) repayable on the expiry of fixed periods.";

in Appendix II, for Form No. 26QA, the following Forms shall be substituted, namely:—

Form No. 26QA

Form No. 26QAA

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 31AC	no counterpart recorded
Rule 31ACA	no counterpart recorded

Forms it touches. Form No. 26QA, Form No. 26QAA

From when

the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

What to watch

The rules come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
The four due dates are 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 30 June following the respective quarter, so the last quarter of the financial year carries a longer interval than the others.
The return comprising Part A and Part B of Form No. 26QAA must be furnished on computer readable media, being a CD-ROM of 650 MB or higher capacity or a Digital Video Disc, along with Part A on paper.
Where the data is compressed or backed up, the corresponding utility or procedure for decompression or restoration must be furnished with the return, and the return must carry a certificate of clean and virus free data.
The Explanation defines time deposits for both rules as deposits, excluding recurring deposits, repayable on the expiry of fixed periods.

Where you meet it

In a bank branch's records of time deposits and in the quarterly return of interest paid without deduction of tax at source.

What it names

Forms it names. Form No. 26QA, Form No. 26QAA

Rules it names. Rule 31AC, 31ACA 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.

Notification No. 1 of 2022 — DGIT(S)/ADG(S)-21Compliance Che<;k/43212021-22 9 June 2022
Notification No. 176 — I.t. (Seventeenth Amdt.) Rules, 2005 28 June 2005
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. 141/2025 [F. No. 370142/30/2025-TPL] / G.S.R. 598(E) — Ministry of Finance 1 September 2025
Notification No. 136/2025 [F. No. 370142/29/2025-TPL] / G.S.R 566(E) — Ministry of Finance 21 August 2025

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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.