Notification No. 82/2021 [F. No. 370142/29/2021-TPL] / GSR 509(E)

What it does

The Central Board of Direct Taxes makes the Income-tax (20th Amendment) Rules, 2021 under sections 139 and 148 read with section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, amending rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. In the opening portion of sub-rule (1), the words "or sub-section (1) of section 148" are substituted by "or section 148", so that the reference is to the section as a whole. In sub-rule (5), the figure "2019" is substituted by "2020".

Who it reaches

Persons filing a return in response to a notice under section 148
All assessees choosing the form and manner of furnishing a return under rule 12
Return preparation utility developers
Assessing Officers issuing reassessment notices

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.3	s.3
s.139	s.2, s.263, s.349
s.148	s.280
s.295	s.533

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.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)
(CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 27th July, 2021
G.S.R. 509(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by section 139 and section 148 read with 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 Income-tax Rules, 1962, namely:-

1. Short title and commencement.— (1) These rules may be called the Income-tax (20th Amendment) Rules, 2021.
(2) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In the Income-tax Rules, 1962, in rule 12,––
(a) in sub-rule (1), in the opening portion, for the words, brackets and figures "or sub-section (1) of section 148", the words and figures "or section 148" shall be substituted;
(b) in sub-rule (5), for the figure "2019", the figure "2020" shall be substituted.

[Notification No. 82 /2021/F. No. 370142/29/2021-TPL]
SHEFALI SINGH, Under Secy., Tax Policy and Legislation

Note : The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Subsection (ii), vide number S.O. 969(E), dated the 26th March, 1962 and last amended vide notification GSR 472(E), dated the 07th July, 2021.

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 12	rule 164

From when

27 July 2021.

What to watch

The rules come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette, 27 July 2021; they are not retrospective.
The reference in sub-rule (1) is widened from sub-section (1) of section 148 to section 148 generally, following the recast of the reassessment provisions.
The year in sub-rule (5), which governs the years to which the earlier forms and manner apply, moves forward by one.
The note records the last previous amendment as G.S.R. 472(E) dated 7 July 2021.

Where you meet it

In choosing the return form and the manner of furnishing it, including a return filed in answer to a notice under section 148.

What it names

Rules it names. Rule 12 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. 94/2026 [F. No. 370142/24/2026-TPL] / G.S.R. 646(E) : Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2026 : Amendment of rule 157 of the Income tax Rules, 2026 to align the definition of the specified fund with rule 114AAB of the Income tax Rules, 1962 — Ministry of Finance 21 July 2026
Notification No. 64 — [भाग II—खण् ड 3(i)] भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण 7 16 April 2026
Notification No. 63/2026 [F. No. 370142/13/2026-TPL]/ GSR 268(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(i)] 10 April 2026
Notification No. 62/2026 [F. No. 370142/10/2026-TPL]/ GSR 267(E) — Ministry of Finance 10 April 2026
Notification No. 61/2026 [F. No. 370142/9/2026-TPL] / GSR 266(E) — [भाग II—खण् ड 3(i)] भारत का रािपत्र : असाधारण 3 10 April 2026
Notification No. 60/2026 [F. No. 370142/8/2026-TPL]/ GSR 265(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(i)] 10 April 2026

← Notification No. 83/2021 [F. No. 370142/30/2021-TPL] / GSR 514(E) · Notification No. 80/2021 [F. No. 300196/30/2018-ITA-I] / SO 2826(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.

What this is