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Section46
The Finance Act, 2021

Amendment of section 153

In force As on 10 Oct 2026

Ministry Finance Cited by 2 provisions

Section 46 of the Finance Act, 2021 deals with amendment of section 153. Amendment of section 153. 46. In section 153 of the Income-tax Act,— (i) | in sub-section (1), after the second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:— 'Provided also that in respect of an order of assessment relating to the assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of Ap

Amendment of section 153.

46. In section 153 of the Income-tax Act,—

(i)in sub-section (1), after the second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—
'Provided also that in respect of an order of assessment relating to the assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 2021, the provisions of this sub-section shall have effect, as if for the words "twenty-one months", the words "nine months" had been substituted.';
(ii)in Explanation 1,—
(a)in clause (viii), for the words "Authority for Advance Rulings", the words "Authority for Advance Rulings or before the Board for Advance Rulings" shall be substituted;
(b)in clause (ix), for the words "Authority for Advance Rulings", the words "Authority for Advance Rulings or before the Board for Advance Rulings" shall be substituted;
(c)after the third proviso, the following provisos shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 1st day of February, 2021, namely:—
"Provided also that where the assessee exercises the option to withdraw the application under sub-section (1) of section 245M, the period of limitation available under this section to the Assessing Officer for making an order of assessment, reassessment or recomputation, as the case may be, shall, after the exclusion of the period under sub-section (5) of the said section, be not less than one year; and where such period of limitation is less than one year, it shall be deemed to have been extended to one year:
Provided also that for the purposes of determining the period of limitation under sections 149, 154 and 155, and for the purposes of payment of interest under section 244A, the provisions of the fourth proviso shall apply accordingly.".
Section 46, The Finance Act, 2021.

Cross-references

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

This section refers to

  1. s. 149 Insertion of new section 30B
  2. s. 153 Commencement of this Part
  3. s. 154 Amendment of section 2
  4. s. 155 Substitution of section 7
  5. Income-tax Act s. 153 Time limit for completion of assessment, reassessment and recomputation

Referred to by 2

  1. s. 93 Amendment of section 46
  2. s. 143 Substitution of sections 46 and 47

Related judgements & precedents

These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.

  1. Union Of India vs Rajeev Bansal

    Supreme Court of India 03 Oct 2024 Landmark binding precedent Reportable 2024 INSC 754

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act 2020 (TOLA) continues to apply to reassessment proceedings initiated under the Income Tax Act even after the Finance Act 2021 came into force on April 1, 2021 and substituted the reassessment regime, where any action or proceeding contemplated under the substituted provisions of the Income Tax Act falls for completion between March 20, 2020 and March 31, 2021 (or such extended date notified). The extended time limit of June 30, 2021 provided under TOLA applies to the issuance of reassessment notices under Section 148 and the grant of sanction under Section 151 of the Income Tax Act. Reassessment notices issued under the new regime must be issued within the time limit surviving under the Income Tax Act read with TOLA's relaxations. Notices issued beyond the surviving time limit are time-barred and liable to be set aside as the time limits constitute jurisdictional requirements for the assessing officer's power to reassess. The legal fiction created by the Supreme Court in the Ashish Agarwal decision, deeming old regime notices as new regime show-cause notices, carries the consequence that the balance of time available under Income Tax Act read with TOLA applies to the completion of reassessment proceedings initiated under that fiction.

    On this section: Substitution of reassessment regime introducing mandatory prior approval, show-cause notice procedure, reduced time limits, higher monetary thresholds, first proviso to Section 149 restricting retrospective effect

    Read the full order on eCourts India

The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.

Questions about Section 46

What have the courts held on Section 46 of the Finance Act?

Union Of India vs Rajeev Bansal (03 Oct 2024) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Substitution of reassessment regime introducing mandatory prior approval, show-cause notice procedure, reduced time limits, higher monetary thresholds, first proviso to Section 149 restricting retrospective effect.

How do I find court cases under Section 46 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 2021 46, section 46 Finance Act 2021, section 46 of the Finance Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Union Of India vs Rajeev Bansal (03 Oct 2024).

What should I read with Section 46 of the Finance Act, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 149 (Insertion of new section 30B), section 153 (Commencement of this Part), section 154 (Amendment of section 2), section 155 (Substitution of section 7), and on 1 further provision, so none of them can safely be read on its own. 2 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it.

When was the Finance Act enacted?

Finance Act was enacted in 2021. 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.