Rule 178 — Application under section 288(1) [Table: Sl. No. 11] regarding credit of tax deduction at source. Made under s.288 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 178 gives effect to Section 288 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.
Sub-rule (1) requires the application an assessee has to make under section 288(1) [Table: Sl. No. 11], regarding credit of tax deduction at source, to be in Form No. 102.
Sub-rule (2) requires Form No. 102 to be furnished to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by him. Sub-rule (3) requires the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or any person authorised by him to forward Form No. 102 to the Assessing Officer.
Section 288(1) contemplates an application about credit for tax deducted at source but does not say in what form it is made or to whom. Because credit for deducted tax is tracked centrally rather than in a single jurisdiction's records, the rule routes the application through the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) and then requires it to be passed on to the Assessing Officer, so that the person who holds the deduction data receives it first and the officer who must act on it receives it as a matter of course.
The application is not filed with the Assessing Officer. Sub-rule (2) directs it to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or his authorised person, and sub-rule (3) makes the forwarding to the Assessing Officer the Department's duty, not the assessee's — so the assessee's obligation is discharged on furnishing Form No. 102 to the Director General. The rule fixes form and route only; whether credit is due, and on what conditions, is settled by section 288(1) and its Table.
An assessee finds that tax deducted from a payment to him has not been reflected against his account and applies for credit under section 288(1) [Table: Sl. No. 11]. He furnishes the application in Form No. 102 to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems), who forwards it to his Assessing Officer. A letter sent directly to the Assessing Officer would not be an application made in the manner this rule prescribes.
A reader meets this rule when credit for tax deducted at source has to be claimed by application rather than through the return, and the claim is put in Form No. 102.
The application required to be made by the assessee under section 288(1) [Table: Sl. No. 11] shall be in Form No. 102.
The Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or any person authorised by him shall forward Form No. 102 to the Assessing Officer.