Section 276CCC — Failure to furnish return of income in search cases
Case Laws & Commentary — Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) — bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Live in form but effectively spent — confined to block-assessment notices under s.158BC for a closed window of searches.
Finance Act, 2026: SUBSTITUTED w.e.f. 1 March 2026 — graded-threshold structure (text recast to refer to undisclosed income for the block period); see amendment note.
Mechanism: Punishes wilful failure to furnish, in due time, the return required by notice under s.158BC(a) in block-assessment (search) cases.
Litigation profile: Sparse — no direct merits authority; governed by the s.276CC line and the s.158BC block-assessment jurisprudence.
A. COMMENTARY
A narrow, largely spent provision
Section 276CCC mirrors section 276CC but is confined to the special procedure for assessment of search cases: it punishes a wilful failure to furnish, in due time, the return required by a notice under clause (a) of section 158BC. Its proviso, however, removes from its reach searches initiated (or requisitions made) after 30 June 1995 but before 1 January 1997 — a deliberately narrow carve-out reflecting the historical transition of the block-assessment scheme. With the original Chapter XIV-B block-assessment regime having given way (for searches in the intervening period) to regular reassessment, and then revived by the Finance Act, 2025 for searches on or after 1 September 2024, section 276CCC has had little live operation.
For searches outside the section 276CCC window, a failure to file the return is prosecuted under the general section 276CC. The two are mutually exclusive in operation. The interpretive principles — 'in due time', wilfulness, and the section 278E presumption — are common, so the section 276CC authorities supply the governing law.
FA 2026 Amendment (w.e.f. 1 March 2026)
By section 26 of the Finance Act, 2026, with effect from 1 March 2026, section 276CCC is substituted. The text is recast to refer to a wilful failure to furnish, in due time, 'the return of income, setting forth his undisclosed income for the block period', required by notice under section 158BC(1)(a) — aligning the language with the revived block-assessment scheme — and the punishment is graded: simple imprisonment up to two years, or fine, or both, where the tax exceeds Rs. 50 lakh; simple imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both, where it exceeds Rs. 10 lakh but not Rs. 50 lakh; and fine only otherwise. The 30 June 1995 / 1 January 1997 proviso is retained. The verbatim text in Part B is the pre-substitution text.
B. STATUTORY TEXT (verbatim — pre-Finance Act, 2026 text)
The text reproduced is the pre-Finance Act, 2026 text. With effect from 1 March 2026 section 276CCC is substituted (block-period 'undisclosed income' language; graded thresholds) — see the amendment note above.
Failure to furnish return of income in search cases.
276CCC. If a person wilfully fails to furnish in due time the return of total income which he is required to furnish by notice given under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 158BC, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three months but which may extend to three years and with fine :
Provided that no person shall be punishable for any failure under this section in respect of search initiated under section 132 or books of account, other documents or any assets requisitioned under section 132A, after the 30th day of June, 1995 but before the 1st day of January, 1997.
C. AUTHORITIES
No reported decision construes section 276CCC directly (candour rule). It is governed by the section 276CC jurisprudence on 'in due time' and wilfulness, and by the section 158BC block-assessment authorities on the return obligation in search cases.
Cognate authority — block-assessment return obligation and the 276CC principles
Asstt. CIT v. Hotel Blue Moon (2010) 321 ITR 362 (SC)
Court/Year Supreme Court, 2010.
Holding In block assessment under Chapter XIV-B, the section 158BC notice and the return obligation are mandatory; defines the very obligation whose wilful breach section 276CCC penalises.
Prakash Nath Khanna v. CIT (2004) 266 ITR 1 (SC)
Court/Year Supreme Court, 2004.
Holding 'In due time' and the completeness of a non-filing offence — applied by parity to the section 158BC return under section 276CCC.
Sasi Enterprises v. ACIT (2014) 361 ITR 163 (SC)
Court/Year Supreme Court, 2014.
Holding Section 278E presumption of culpable mental state in non-filing prosecutions — equally applicable to section 276CCC.
CHAPTER XXII — OFFENCES AND PROSECUTIONS
Section 276CCC — Failure to furnish return of income in search cases
Case Laws & Commentary — Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) — bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Live in form but effectively spent — confined to block-assessment notices under s.158BC for a closed window of searches.
Finance Act, 2026: SUBSTITUTED w.e.f. 1 March 2026 — graded-threshold structure (text recast to refer to undisclosed income for the block period); see amendment note.
Mechanism: Punishes wilful failure to furnish, in due time, the return required by notice under s.158BC(a) in block-assessment (search) cases.
Litigation profile: Sparse — no direct merits authority; governed by the s.276CC line and the s.158BC block-assessment jurisprudence.
A. COMMENTARY
A narrow, largely spent provision
Section 276CCC mirrors section 276CC but is confined to the special procedure for assessment of search cases: it punishes a wilful failure to furnish, in due time, the return required by a notice under clause (a) of section 158BC. Its proviso, however, removes from its reach searches initiated (or requisitions made) after 30 June 1995 but before 1 January 1997 — a deliberately narrow carve-out reflecting the historical transition of the block-assessment scheme. With the original Chapter XIV-B block-assessment regime having given way (for searches in the intervening period) to regular reassessment, and then revived by the Finance Act, 2025 for searches on or after 1 September 2024, section 276CCC has had little live operation.
Relationship with section 276CC
For searches outside the section 276CCC window, a failure to file the return is prosecuted under the general section 276CC. The two are mutually exclusive in operation. The interpretive principles — 'in due time', wilfulness, and the section 278E presumption — are common, so the section 276CC authorities supply the governing law.
FA 2026 Amendment (w.e.f. 1 March 2026)
By section 26 of the Finance Act, 2026, with effect from 1 March 2026, section 276CCC is substituted. The text is recast to refer to a wilful failure to furnish, in due time, 'the return of income, setting forth his undisclosed income for the block period', required by notice under section 158BC(1)(a) — aligning the language with the revived block-assessment scheme — and the punishment is graded: simple imprisonment up to two years, or fine, or both, where the tax exceeds Rs. 50 lakh; simple imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both, where it exceeds Rs. 10 lakh but not Rs. 50 lakh; and fine only otherwise. The 30 June 1995 / 1 January 1997 proviso is retained. The verbatim text in Part B is the pre-substitution text.
B. STATUTORY TEXT (verbatim — pre-Finance Act, 2026 text)
The text reproduced is the pre-Finance Act, 2026 text. With effect from 1 March 2026 section 276CCC is substituted (block-period 'undisclosed income' language; graded thresholds) — see the amendment note above.
Failure to furnish return of income in search cases.
276CCC. If a person wilfully fails to furnish in due time the return of total income which he is required to furnish by notice given under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 158BC, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three months but which may extend to three years and with fine :
Provided that no person shall be punishable for any failure under this section in respect of search initiated under section 132 or books of account, other documents or any assets requisitioned under section 132A, after the 30th day of June, 1995 but before the 1st day of January, 1997.
C. AUTHORITIES
No reported decision construes section 276CCC directly (candour rule). It is governed by the section 276CC jurisprudence on 'in due time' and wilfulness, and by the section 158BC block-assessment authorities on the return obligation in search cases.
Cognate authority — block-assessment return obligation and the 276CC principles
Asstt. CIT v. Hotel Blue Moon (2010) 321 ITR 362 (SC)
Court/Year Supreme Court, 2010.
Holding In block assessment under Chapter XIV-B, the section 158BC notice and the return obligation are mandatory; defines the very obligation whose wilful breach section 276CCC penalises.
Prakash Nath Khanna v. CIT (2004) 266 ITR 1 (SC)
Court/Year Supreme Court, 2004.
Holding 'In due time' and the completeness of a non-filing offence — applied by parity to the section 158BC return under section 276CCC.
Sasi Enterprises v. ACIT (2014) 361 ITR 163 (SC)
Court/Year Supreme Court, 2014.
Holding Section 278E presumption of culpable mental state in non-filing prosecutions — equally applicable to section 276CCC.