Rule 170 — Prescribed income-tax authority under section 268(3) for issue of notice under sub-section (1) thereof. Made under s.268 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 170 gives effect to Section 268 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.
The rule prescribes the income-tax authority for the purposes of section 268(3), for the issue of a notice under section 268(1). That authority shall be an income-tax authority not below the rank of Income-tax Officer who has been authorised by the Central Board of Direct Taxes to act as such authority for the purposes of section 268(3).
Two requirements are stated and both must hold: the rank, and the authorisation by the Board. The rule prescribes no form, no time limit and no procedure.
Section 268(1) allows a notice to be issued by the prescribed income-tax authority, and section 268(3) leaves who that is to be prescribed. The rule answers it with a floor of rank and a specific act of authorisation by the Board, so that the power is neither open to every official nor confined to a single named post. Seniority alone is not enough, and neither is authorisation of an officer below the stated rank.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum rank of the prescribed authority | Not below the rank of Income-tax Officer | And authorised by the Central Board of Direct Taxes to act as such authority for the purposes of section 268(3) | Rule 170 |
Both limbs are conditions. An officer of the required rank who has not been authorised by the Board is not the prescribed authority, and an authorisation cannot reach below the rank of Income-tax Officer. The rule fixes only who may issue the notice under section 268(1); the grounds for the notice, what it may require and the consequences of not complying with it are matters for section 268 itself, and nothing here adds to them.
A reader meets it on the face of a notice issued under section 268(1), where the authority issuing it must be one that satisfies both limbs of this rule.
shall be an income-tax authority not below the rank of Income-tax Officer who has been authorised by the Central Board of Direct Taxes to act as such authority for the purposes of section 268(3)