Section24
The Finance Act, 1980

Amendment of section 139

In force Act 44 of 1980 As on 14 Oct 2026

Act 44 of 1980 Ministry Finance

Section 24 of the Finance Act, 1980 deals with amendment of section 139. Amendment of section 139 24. In section 139 of the Income-tax Act, after sub-section (8), the following sub-section shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of September, 1980, namely:— " (9) Where the Income-tax Officer considers that the return of income furnished by the assessee is defectiv

Amendment of section 139

24. In section 139 of the Income-tax Act, after sub-section (8), the following sub-section shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of September, 1980, namely:—

" (9) Where the Income-tax Officer considers that the return of income furnished by the assessee is defective, he may intimate the . defect to the assessee and give him an opportunity to rectify the defect within a period of fifteen days from the date of such intima- tion or within such further period which, on an application made in this behalf, the Income-tax Officer may, in his discretion, allow; and if the defect" is not rectified within the said period of fifteen days or, as the case may be, the further period so allowed, then, notwithstanding anytinng contained in any other provision of this Act, the return shall be treated as' an invalid return and the provisions of this Act shall apply as if the assessee had failed to furnish the return:

Provided that where the assessee rectifies the defect after the expiry of the said period of fifteen days or the further period allowed, but before the assessment is made, the Income-tax Officer may condone the delay and treat the return as a valid return.

Explanation.-For the purposes of this sub-section, a return of income shall be regarded as defective unless all the following conditions are fulfilled, namely:—

(a) the annexures, statements and columns in the return of income relating to computation of income chargeable under each head of income, computation of gross total income and) total income have been duly filled in;

(b) the return is accompanied by a statement showing the computation of the tax payable on the basis of the return;

(c) the return is accompanied by proof of—

(i) the tax, if any, claimed to have been deducted at source and the advance tax and tax on self-assessment, if any, claimed to have been paid;

(ii) the amount of compulsory deposit, if any, claimed to have been made under the Compulsory Deposit Scheme (Income-tax Payers) Act, 1974 (38 of 1974);

(d) where regular books of account are maintained by the - assessee, the return is accompanied by copies of—

(i) manufacturing account, trading account, profit and loss account or, as the case may be, income and expenditure account or any other similar account and balance sheet;

(ii) in the case of a proprietary business or profession, the personal account of the proprietor; in the case of a firm, association of (persons or body of individuals, personal accounts of the partners or members; and in the case of a partner or member of a firm, association of persons or body of individuals, also his personal account in the firm, association of persons or body of individuals;

(e) where the accounts of the assessee have been audited, the return is accompanied by copies of the audited profit and loss account and balance sheet and the auditor's report;

(f) where regular books of account are not maintained by the assesses, the return is accompanied" by a statement indicating the amounts of turnover or, as the case may be, gross receipts, gross profit, expenses and net profit of the business or profession and the basis on which such amounts have been computed, and also" disclosing the amounts of total sundry debtors, sundry creditors, stock-in-trade arid cash balance as at the end of the previous year.".

[Finance (No.

2) Act, 1980]

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Section 24, The Finance Act, 1980 (Act 44 of 1980).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

Questions about Section 24

What does Section 24 of the Finance Act deal with?

Section 24 of the Finance Act is headed "Amendment of section 139". Amendment of section 139 24. In section 139 of the Income-tax Act, after sub-section (8), the following sub-section shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of September, 1980, namely:— " (9) Where the Income-tax Officer considers that the return of income furnished by the assessee is defectiv

How do I find court cases under Section 24 of the Finance Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Finance Act 1980 24, section 24 Finance Act 1980, section 24 of the Finance Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome.

What should I read with Section 24 of the Finance Act, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on Income-tax Act 139 (Return of income), so none of them can safely be read on its own.

When was the Finance Act enacted?

Finance Act was enacted in 1980 as Act 44 of 1980. India Code records no commencement date for it. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Harvested from the Income Tax Department's own portal at incometaxindia.gov.in, which publishes the Finance Acts section by section. India Code carries none of them: its Central community holds the Acts that stand as general law, and a Finance Act is an amending and rate-fixing instrument. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.