Rule 68 — Furnishing of report under section 146. Made under s.146, s.515 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 68 gives effect to Section 146 and Section 515 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 form of a single report. Where an assessee is required by section 146(3)(c) to furnish the report of an accountant, as defined in section 515(3)(b), along with the return of income, that report is to be in Form No. 34.
Section 146(3)(c) makes the accountant's report a condition and requires it to go with the return, but leaves the form of the report unstated. The rule supplies it, so that the certification reaches the Department in a standard shape and can be matched against the return it accompanies.
The timing is set by the section, not by the rule: section 146(3)(c) requires the report to be furnished along with the return of income, and rule 68 only says which form carries it. "Accountant" is not left at large either — it is the person answering the definition in section 515(3)(b), so a report by someone outside that definition does not meet the condition however competently made.
A company claiming under section 146 obtains the report of an accountant within section 515(3)(b) and furnishes it in Form No. 34 along with its return of income for the tax year. A report furnished later, or in another format, would not answer section 146(3)(c) read with this rule.
A reader meets this rule at the point of filing the return, where Form No. 34 has to accompany it, and again if the claim under section 146 is examined and the report is called for.
Report of an accountant as defined in section 515(3)(b), which is required to be furnished by the assessee under section 146(3)(c) along with the return of income shall be in Form No. 34