CHAPTER XVII - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX - C.-ADVANCE PAYMENT OF TAX
CHAPTER XVII - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX - C.-ADVANCE PAYMENT OF TAX
Section 209A - Computation and Payment of Advance Tax by Assessee (Omitted)
Case Laws & Commentary - Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) - bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, w.e.f. 1 April 1988 (originally inserted by the Finance Act, 1978, w.e.f. 1 June 1978).
Finance Act, 2026: No amendment (omitted provision).
Mechanism: Historic: the assessee filed a statement or estimate of advance tax and paid accordingly - machinery replaced by the self-computation model of sections 209 and 210(1).
Litigation profile: Spent/omitted. Candour rule. Its jurisprudence survives only through the interest sections 215-217 (assessment years up to 1988-89).
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
Section 209A - "Computation and payment of advance tax by assessee" - was inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 (w.e.f. 1 June 1978) and omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987 (w.e.f. 1 April 1988). It belonged to the pre-1988 regime, under which the assessee was required to file a statement of advance tax (where he had previously been assessed) or an estimate (where he had not), and to pay advance tax accordingly. The provision sat alongside sections 212 and 213 (also now omitted) and the interest sections 215 to 217, which keyed their consequences to defaults under section 209A.
Why it was omitted
The 1987 simplification replaced the estimate-and-statement machinery with the self-computation model now in sections 209 and 210(1): the assessee simply computes and pays advance tax of his own accord, without filing a statement or estimate. Sections 209A, 212 and 213 were therefore rendered otiose and omitted together. The interest sections that referred to section 209A (notably sections 215, 216 and 217) survive only for assessment years up to 1988-89 by force of section 214(3).
Status today
Section 209A has no application to any assessment year from 1989-90 onwards. It is noticed here only for completeness of the Chapter and because the surviving interest provisions (sections 215 to 217) and the old penalty provision (section 273) continue to refer to it for the earlier years to which they still apply.
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
Reproduced verbatim from the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Legislature's omission note is set out as printed; the Finance Act, 2026 makes no amendment.
209A. [Omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, w.e.f. 1-4-1988. Original section was inserted by the Finance Act, 1978, w.e.f. 1-6-1978.] Payment of advance tax by the assessee of his own accord or in pursuance of order of Assessing
C. AUTHORITIES
Section 209A stands omitted with effect from 1 April 1988. There is no live litigation on it; the candour rule is observed. Its jurisprudence merges into that of the surviving interest sections 215-217, which referred to it, and is treated there.
Cluster 1 - Omitted provision: cognate position
No authority construes section 209A as live law for any current year. The cognate authorities are those on the interest sections that referred to it.
Central Provinces Manganese Ore Co. Ltd. v. CIT (1986) 160 ITR 961 (SC)
Relevance: The leading authority on the nature of interest under the old sections (139(8)/215) that were tied to defaults including those under section 209A - interest is compensatory, forms part of the assessment, and is appealable on the ground that the levy is not attracted at all.
Use: Supplies the conceptual treatment of the consequences that section 209A defaults attracted for assessment years up to 1988-89.
Status note - Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987
Position: Section 209A was omitted w.e.f. 1 April 1988; the self-computation scheme in sections 209 and 210(1) replaced the statement/estimate machinery.
Candour: The provision is dead law for assessment years 1989-90 onwards and is reproduced here only for completeness.
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text is reproduced verbatim from the bare Act; case-law citations have been web-verified. Where a section is omitted, spent or substantially unlitigated, the candour rule is observed - the absence of direct authority is stated and only genuinely cognate authority is offered. This digest is for professional reference and is not a substitute for the official report of any judgment.
CHAPTER XVII - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX - C.-ADVANCE PAYMENT OF TAX
Section 209A - Computation and Payment of Advance Tax by Assessee (Omitted)
Case Laws & Commentary - Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) - bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, w.e.f. 1 April 1988 (originally inserted by the Finance Act, 1978, w.e.f. 1 June 1978).
Finance Act, 2026: No amendment (omitted provision).
Mechanism: Historic: the assessee filed a statement or estimate of advance tax and paid accordingly - machinery replaced by the self-computation model of sections 209 and 210(1).
Litigation profile: Spent/omitted. Candour rule. Its jurisprudence survives only through the interest sections 215-217 (assessment years up to 1988-89).
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
Section 209A - "Computation and payment of advance tax by assessee" - was inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 (w.e.f. 1 June 1978) and omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987 (w.e.f. 1 April 1988). It belonged to the pre-1988 regime, under which the assessee was required to file a statement of advance tax (where he had previously been assessed) or an estimate (where he had not), and to pay advance tax accordingly. The provision sat alongside sections 212 and 213 (also now omitted) and the interest sections 215 to 217, which keyed their consequences to defaults under section 209A.
Why it was omitted
The 1987 simplification replaced the estimate-and-statement machinery with the self-computation model now in sections 209 and 210(1): the assessee simply computes and pays advance tax of his own accord, without filing a statement or estimate. Sections 209A, 212 and 213 were therefore rendered otiose and omitted together. The interest sections that referred to section 209A (notably sections 215, 216 and 217) survive only for assessment years up to 1988-89 by force of section 214(3).
Status today
Section 209A has no application to any assessment year from 1989-90 onwards. It is noticed here only for completeness of the Chapter and because the surviving interest provisions (sections 215 to 217) and the old penalty provision (section 273) continue to refer to it for the earlier years to which they still apply.
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
Reproduced verbatim from the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Legislature's omission note is set out as printed; the Finance Act, 2026 makes no amendment.
209A. [Omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, w.e.f. 1-4-1988. Original section was inserted by the Finance Act, 1978, w.e.f. 1-6-1978.] Payment of advance tax by the assessee of his own accord or in pursuance of order of Assessing
C. AUTHORITIES
Section 209A stands omitted with effect from 1 April 1988. There is no live litigation on it; the candour rule is observed. Its jurisprudence merges into that of the surviving interest sections 215-217, which referred to it, and is treated there.
Cluster 1 - Omitted provision: cognate position
No authority construes section 209A as live law for any current year. The cognate authorities are those on the interest sections that referred to it.
Central Provinces Manganese Ore Co. Ltd. v. CIT (1986) 160 ITR 961 (SC)
Relevance: The leading authority on the nature of interest under the old sections (139(8)/215) that were tied to defaults including those under section 209A - interest is compensatory, forms part of the assessment, and is appealable on the ground that the levy is not attracted at all.
Use: Supplies the conceptual treatment of the consequences that section 209A defaults attracted for assessment years up to 1988-89.
Status note - Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987
Position: Section 209A was omitted w.e.f. 1 April 1988; the self-computation scheme in sections 209 and 210(1) replaced the statement/estimate machinery.
Candour: The provision is dead law for assessment years 1989-90 onwards and is reproduced here only for completeness.
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text is reproduced verbatim from the bare Act; case-law citations have been web-verified. Where a section is omitted, spent or substantially unlitigated, the candour rule is observed - the absence of direct authority is stated and only genuinely cognate authority is offered. This digest is for professional reference and is not a substitute for the official report of any judgment.