Notification No. 25/2021 [F. No. 187/3/2020-ITA-I] / SO 1437(E) — New Delhi, the 31st March, 2021

What this is

Notification No. 25/2021 [F. No. 187/3/2020-ITA-I] / SO 1437(E) was published on 31 March 2021. Its subject is New Delhi, the 31st March, 2021.

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

Under sub-section (2) of section 143 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 read with rule 12E of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, the Central Board of Direct Taxes authorises the Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax or Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax (NaFAC), with headquarters at Delhi, to act as the Prescribed Income-tax Authority for the purposes of section 143(2). The authorisation is for the issue of notice under section 143(2) in respect of returns furnished under section 139 or in response to a notice issued under sub-section (1) of section 142 or sub-section (1) of section 148.

Who it reaches

Assessees whose returns are selected for scrutiny
The Assistant or Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax (NaFAC) at Delhi
Jurisdictional Assessing Officers who previously issued the notice
Advisers objecting to the authority that issued a section 143(2) notice

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.139	s.2, s.263, s.349
s.142	s.268
s.143	s.270
s.148	s.280

The instrument, as the Board published it

The department publishes this one only as a PDF, so the words below were read out of that PDF by machine. That reading can carry its own mistakes — a misread number, a broken line. Check the signed document before you rely on a figure in it.

NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 31st March, 2021
(Income-tax)
S.O. 1437(E).—In exercise of powers conferred under sub-section (2) of section 143 of Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) (the Act) read with Rule 12E of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby authorises the Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax/Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax (NaFAC) having her / his headquarters at Delhi, to act as the 'Prescribed Income-tax Authority' for the purpose of sub-section (2) of section 143 of the Act, in respect of returns furnished under section 139 or in response to a notice issued under sub-section (1) of section 142 of the said Act, or sub-section (1) of section 148 of the Act, for the purpose of issuance of notice under sub-section (2) of section 143 of the said Act.

2. This notification shall come into force from the 1st day of April, 2021.
[Notification No. 25/2021/F. No. 187/3/2020-ITA-I]
PRAJNA PARAMITA, Director
Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064
and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.

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 12E	rule 175

From when

1 April 2021.

What to watch

The notification comes into force from 1 April 2021.
The authorisation covers returns under section 139 and returns furnished in response to a notice under section 142(1) or section 148(1).
The authority is prescribed for the issue of the notice under section 143(2); it does not by itself decide who makes the assessment.
The officer is identified by designation and headquarters, not by territorial area, so the notice may issue from Delhi in any case.

Where you meet it

On the face of a scrutiny notice under section 143(2), and in an objection that the notice was issued by an authority not prescribed.

What it names

Rules it names. Rule 12E 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. 112/2026 [F. No. 300196/6/2026-ITA-I] / SO 4458(E) : Notification in the case of District Legal Service Authority, Panchkula — Ministry of Finance 11 August 2026
Notification No. 107/2026 [F. No. 300196/65/2018-ITA-I] / SO 4319(E) : Notification section 536 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 2025 (30 of 2025) in the case of Noida Special Economic Zone Authority — [भाग II—खण् ड 3(ii)] भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण 3 4 August 2026
Notification No. 106/2026 [F. No. 300196/65/2018-ITA-I] / SO 4318(E) : Notification section 536 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 2025 (30 of 2025) in the case of Noida Special Economic Zone Authority — [भाग II—खण् ड 3(ii)] भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण 3 4 August 2026
Notification No. 104/2026 [F.No.300196/1/2026-ITA-I] / SO 4308(E) : Notification section 536 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 2025 (30 of 2025) in the case of District Legal Service Authority, Charkhi Dadri — Ministry of Finance 3 August 2026
Notification No. 103/2026 [F. No.300196/76/2024-ITA-I] / SO 4307(E) :Notification section 536 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 2025 (30 of 2025) in the case of Haryana State Board of Technical Education (HSBTE), Panchkula — Ministry of Finance 3 August 2026
Notification No. 101/2026 [F. No. 300196/88/2024-ITA-I] / SO 4190(E) : Notification section 536 (1) of the Income Tax Act 2025 (30 of 2025) in the case of Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority — Ministry of Finance 29 July 2026

← Notification No. 24/2021 [F. No. 187/3/2020-ITA-I] / SO 1436(E) · Notification No. 26/2021 [F. No. 370142/33/2020-TPL] / SO 1438(E) →

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.