CHAPTER XVII - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX | D.—COLLECTION AND RECOVERY
CHAPTER XVII - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX | D.—COLLECTION AND RECOVERY
Section 223 — Tax Recovery Officer by Whom Recovery Is to Be Effected
Case Laws & Commentary — Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) — bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Live; jurisdictional provision identifying the competent TRO and enabling transfer of the certificate to another TRO where the assessee has property in more than one jurisdiction.
Finance Act, 2026: No amendment by the Finance Act, 2026.
Mechanism: Competent TRO = TRO of the place of business/profession, or residence, or where property is situated (per Board / CCIT directions under s.120) → if recovery cannot be completed within one jurisdiction, the certificate (or a certified copy for part) may be sent to the TRO where the assessee resides or has property, who then proceeds as if he had drawn it up.
Litigation profile: Lightly litigated; essentially machinery. Jurisdictional objections are rare and usually resolved on the s.120 assignment.
A. COMMENTARY
Purpose
Section 223 answers the practical question of which TRO acts and how recovery follows the assessee's assets across jurisdictions. Competence is tied to the jurisdiction assigned under section 120. The transfer mechanism in sub-section (2) ensures that a certificate is not frustrated merely because the defaulter's property lies outside the originating TRO's area: the certificate, or a certified copy specifying the amount to be recovered, travels to the TRO of the place where the property or the assessee is, who then proceeds under the Chapter as if he had drawn up the certificate himself.
Litigation note
There is little direct case law on section 223; jurisdictional disputes are generally controlled by the Board's/CCIT's assignment orders under section 120 and by the Second Schedule. The decision in TRO v. Gangadhar Vishwanath Ranade (under section 222) governs the limits of the TRO's adjudicatory powers and applies equally whichever TRO acts.
B. STATUTORY TEXT (verbatim)
Reproduced from the Income-tax Act, 1961 as amended up to the Finance Act, 2025; the Finance Act, 2026 makes no amendment to this section. Editorial '[Omitted...]' notes are those of the Legislature.
Tax Recovery Officer by whom recovery is to be effected.
223. (1) The Tax Recovery Officer competent to take action under section 222 shall be—
(a) the Tax Recovery Officer within whose jurisdiction the assessee carries on his business or profession or within whose jurisdiction the principal place of his business or profession is situate, or
(b) the Tax Recovery Officer within whose jurisdiction the assessee resides or any movable or immovable property of the assessee is situate, the jurisdiction for this purpose being the jurisdiction assigned to the Tax Recovery Officer under the orders or directions issued by the Board, or by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner who is authorised in this behalf by the Board in pursuance of section 120.
(2) Where an assessee has property within the jurisdiction of more than one Tax Recovery Officer and the Tax Recovery Officer by whom the certificate is drawn up—
(a) is not able to recover the entire amount by sale of the property, movable or immovable, within his jurisdiction, or
(b) is of the opinion that, for the purpose of expediting or securing the recovery of the whole or any part of the amount under this Chapter, it is necessary so to do, he may send the certificate or, where only a part of the amount is to be recovered, a copy of the certificate certified in the prescribed manner and specifying the amount to be recovered to a Tax Recovery Officer within whose jurisdiction the assessee resides or has property and, thereupon, that Tax Recovery Officer shall also proceed to recover the amount under this Chapter as if the certificate or copy thereof had been drawn up by him.
C. AUTHORITIES
A largely machinery provision; the candour rule is applied. The cognate authority on the TRO's powers is noted.
1. Cognate authority on the TRO's powers
No section-specific Supreme Court / High Court authority of significance; the following governs the acting TRO's powers whichever jurisdiction recovers.
TRO v. Gangadhar Vishwanath Ranade (1998) 234 ITR 188 (SC)
Relevance Fixes the limits of a TRO's adjudicatory power under the Second Schedule (cannot declare transfers void; must sue under rule 11(6)) — applicable to whichever TRO is competent or receives the certificate under section 223.
Use Cited where a transferee or third party objects to recovery by the receiving TRO.
CHAPTER XVII - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX | D.—COLLECTION AND RECOVERY
Section 223 — Tax Recovery Officer by Whom Recovery Is to Be Effected
Case Laws & Commentary — Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) — bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Live; jurisdictional provision identifying the competent TRO and enabling transfer of the certificate to another TRO where the assessee has property in more than one jurisdiction.
Finance Act, 2026: No amendment by the Finance Act, 2026.
Mechanism: Competent TRO = TRO of the place of business/profession, or residence, or where property is situated (per Board / CCIT directions under s.120) → if recovery cannot be completed within one jurisdiction, the certificate (or a certified copy for part) may be sent to the TRO where the assessee resides or has property, who then proceeds as if he had drawn it up.
Litigation profile: Lightly litigated; essentially machinery. Jurisdictional objections are rare and usually resolved on the s.120 assignment.
A. COMMENTARY
Purpose
Section 223 answers the practical question of which TRO acts and how recovery follows the assessee's assets across jurisdictions. Competence is tied to the jurisdiction assigned under section 120. The transfer mechanism in sub-section (2) ensures that a certificate is not frustrated merely because the defaulter's property lies outside the originating TRO's area: the certificate, or a certified copy specifying the amount to be recovered, travels to the TRO of the place where the property or the assessee is, who then proceeds under the Chapter as if he had drawn up the certificate himself.
Litigation note
There is little direct case law on section 223; jurisdictional disputes are generally controlled by the Board's/CCIT's assignment orders under section 120 and by the Second Schedule. The decision in TRO v. Gangadhar Vishwanath Ranade (under section 222) governs the limits of the TRO's adjudicatory powers and applies equally whichever TRO acts.
B. STATUTORY TEXT (verbatim)
Reproduced from the Income-tax Act, 1961 as amended up to the Finance Act, 2025; the Finance Act, 2026 makes no amendment to this section. Editorial '[Omitted...]' notes are those of the Legislature.
Tax Recovery Officer by whom recovery is to be effected.
223. (1) The Tax Recovery Officer competent to take action under section 222 shall be—
(a) the Tax Recovery Officer within whose jurisdiction the assessee carries on his business or profession or within whose jurisdiction the principal place of his business or profession is situate, or
(b) the Tax Recovery Officer within whose jurisdiction the assessee resides or any movable or immovable property of the assessee is situate, the jurisdiction for this purpose being the jurisdiction assigned to the Tax Recovery Officer under the orders or directions issued by the Board, or by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner who is authorised in this behalf by the Board in pursuance of section 120.
(2) Where an assessee has property within the jurisdiction of more than one Tax Recovery Officer and the Tax Recovery Officer by whom the certificate is drawn up—
(a) is not able to recover the entire amount by sale of the property, movable or immovable, within his jurisdiction, or
(b) is of the opinion that, for the purpose of expediting or securing the recovery of the whole or any part of the amount under this Chapter, it is necessary so to do, he may send the certificate or, where only a part of the amount is to be recovered, a copy of the certificate certified in the prescribed manner and specifying the amount to be recovered to a Tax Recovery Officer within whose jurisdiction the assessee resides or has property and, thereupon, that Tax Recovery Officer shall also proceed to recover the amount under this Chapter as if the certificate or copy thereof had been drawn up by him.
C. AUTHORITIES
A largely machinery provision; the candour rule is applied. The cognate authority on the TRO's powers is noted.
1. Cognate authority on the TRO's powers
No section-specific Supreme Court / High Court authority of significance; the following governs the acting TRO's powers whichever jurisdiction recovers.
TRO v. Gangadhar Vishwanath Ranade (1998) 234 ITR 188 (SC)
Relevance Fixes the limits of a TRO's adjudicatory power under the Second Schedule (cannot declare transfers void; must sue under rule 11(6)) — applicable to whichever TRO is competent or receives the certificate under section 223.
Use Cited where a transferee or third party objects to recovery by the receiving TRO.