Rule 216 — Application for allotment of a tax deduction and collection account number. Made under s.397 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 216 gives effect to Section 397 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) prescribes the application under section 397(1)(a) for allotment of a tax deduction and collection account number: Form No. 134 in the case of a Government entity, and Form No. 135 in the case of a person other than a Government entity.
Sub-rule (2) allows the application to be made instead through a common application form as notified by the Central Government, by the persons mentioned in that notification. Sub-rule (3) requires the application to be made to the officer to whom the function of allotment of a tax deduction and collection account number under section 397(1)(a) has been assigned by the Director General of Income-tax (Systems).
Sub-rule (4) fixes the timing: the application is to be made prior to the deduction or collection of tax, and where it has not been so made, within thirty days from the end of the month in which the tax was deducted or collected.
Sub-rule (5) requires the application under sub-rule (1) to be accompanied by the documents mentioned in column D of the Table under sub-rule (8) of rule 158, as proof of identity, address and date of birth or date of incorporation, in respect of an applicant mentioned in column B of that Table.
Sub-rule (6) defines "Government entity" as an entity of the Central Government, an entity of the State Government, a local authority of the Central Government or a local authority of the State Government, but excludes any company and any statutory or autonomous body constituted by an Act of the Central Government or State Government.
Section 397(1)(a) requires a person deducting or collecting tax to obtain an account number but leaves the form, the addressee and the time to the rules. The rule supplies all three, and splits the form by applicant because a Government entity and an ordinary deductor prove their identity differently. The thirty-day fallback in sub-rule (4)(b) exists because the primary obligation — to apply before deducting or collecting — is often discovered only after the first deduction has already been made.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to apply where no application was made before deduction or collection | Within thirty days from the end of the month in which the tax was deducted or collected | The primary requirement in clause (a) is to apply prior to the deduction or collection of tax | Sub-rule (4)(b) |
The rule states an obligation before it states a deadline: the application is to be made prior to any deduction or collection, and the thirty days in clause (b) apply only where that has not been done — they are a cure, not the ordinary time limit. Whether Form No. 134 or Form No. 135 is used turns on the definition in sub-rule (6), which is narrower than it looks: a company is excluded even if wholly Government owned, and so is a statutory or autonomous body constituted by an Act of the Central or State Government, so such bodies apply in Form No. 135. The supporting documents are not listed here — sub-rule (5) points to column D of the Table under sub-rule (8) of rule 158, matched to the class of applicant in column B of that Table.
A State Government-owned company deducts tax on a contractor's bill in July without having applied for a tax deduction and collection account number. Because sub-rule (6) excludes a company from "Government entity", it must apply in Form No. 135 and not Form No. 134, and under sub-rule (4)(b) it must do so within thirty days from the end of July, having missed the requirement in clause (a) to apply before deducting.
At the point of becoming a deductor or collector, in the Form No. 134 or Form No. 135 application, or in the common application form where a Central Government notification provides for one.
prior to the deduction or collection of tax
where it has not been so made, then within thirty days from the end of the month in which the tax was deducted or collected, as the case may be
but shall not include any company or any statutory or autonomous body constituted by any Act of the Central Government or State Government