Rules 2026s.376

Rule 195 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026

Rule 195 — Application under section 376 to defer filing of appeal before Appellate Tribunal or the jurisdictional High Court. Made under s.376 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.

Where this rule sits

Rule 195 gives effect to Section 376 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.

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What this rule does

The rule prescribes the form for the application referred to in section 376(2). Where that application is required to be made before the Appellate Tribunal or the jurisdictional High Court, as the case may be, it shall be made in Form No. 118 by the Assessing Officer.

Why it is there

Section 376 allows the filing of an appeal to be deferred where an identical question of law is pending, and section 376(2) requires an application to that effect. The rule gives that application a single form and names the officer who makes it, so the deferral is sought on a uniform document by the Assessing Officer rather than by whoever has carriage of the matter.

Who it applies to

The Assessing Officer making the application to defer filing of an appeal
The Appellate Tribunal or the jurisdictional High Court before which the application is made
An assessee whose case is the subject of the deferred appeal

The forms it prescribes

Form No. 118 — application under section 376(2) to defer filing of an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal or the jurisdictional High Court

What this means in practice

The application belongs to the Department, not the taxpayer: the rule says it shall be made by the Assessing Officer. The same Form No. 118 serves both forums, so nothing turns on whether the appeal in question would have gone to the Appellate Tribunal or to the jurisdictional High Court. The grounds on which deferral may be sought and its consequences are in section 376; the rule settles only the form and who files it.

An example

Illustrative only, and invented for this page. The figures are chosen to show the requirement biting, not taken from any real matter.

An identical question of law arising in an assessee's case is pending before the High Court in another matter. Rather than filing the appeal, the Assessing Officer applies in Form No. 118 before the Appellate Tribunal under section 376(2), and the assessee receives that application as the Department's basis for not filing at that stage.

Where you meet this rule

You meet it as a document on the file of an appeal that was not filed — the Form No. 118 application before the Tribunal or the High Court, and any order made on it.

The words themselves

The application referred to in section 376(2), required to be made before the Appellate Tribunal or the jurisdictional High Court, as the case may be, shall be made in Form No. 118 by the Assessing Officer.

Rule 195, Income-tax Rules, 2026.

What people get wrong

Treating the application as one the assessee may make. The rule requires it to be made by the Assessing Officer.
Looking for a separate form for the High Court. Form No. 118 serves both the Appellate Tribunal and the jurisdictional High Court.
Reading the rule as conferring the deferral. The power and its conditions are in section 376; the rule prescribes the form.

What this page does not tell you. It does not reproduce the rule. Everything above was written from the rule’s own text as the Income Tax Department publishes it — the text is here. A rule is subordinate legislation: it prescribes the method, the form or the period, and it cannot enlarge the charge the section imposes. Where a figure matters, read the sub-rule it comes from.