Section 282 — Time Limit Notices | ITA 2025

Section 282 — - TIME LIMIT FOR NOTICES SS. 280/281

Section 282 is the substantive equivalent of 1961 s. 149 -- the provision dealing with time limit for notices ss. 280/281 within the assessment procedure framework under Chapter XVI. Critical provision in tax-administration for: (a) inquiry / scrutiny mechanics; (b) assessment determination; (c) re-assessment of escaped income; (d) time-limits and procedural safeguards; (e) rectification / appeals interaction. The 2025 Act preserves the substantive 1961 framework with FA 2020-onwards faceless / digital amendments incorporated.

Statutory text — Income-tax Act, 2025

Marginal note -- Time limit for notices ss. 280/281

(1) No notice under section 280 shall be issued for the relevant tax year,—

(a) if four years and three months have elapsed from the end of the relevant tax year, unless the case falls under clause (b);

(b) if four years and three months, but not more than six years and three months, have elapsed from the end of the relevant tax year, unless the Assessing Officer has in his possession books of account or other docu- ments or evidence related to any asset or expenditure or transaction or entry which shows that the income chargeable to tax, which has escaped assessment, amounts to or is likely to amount to fifty lakh rupees or more.

(2) No notice to show cause under section 281 shall be issued for the relevant tax year,—

(a) if four years have elapsed from the end of the relevant tax year, unless the case falls under clause (b);

(b) if four years, but not more than six years, have elapsed from the end of the relevant tax year, unless the income chargeable to tax which has escaped assessment, as per the information with the Assessing Officer, amounts to or is likely to amount to fifty lakh rupees or more.

(3) No notice under section 280 or 281 shall be issued within one year from the end of any tax year. [Provision for cases where assessment is in pursuance of an order on appeal, 60 etc.

STATUTORY ARCHITECTURE: Time limit for notices ss. 280/281 is integral to the assessment framework under Chapter XVI. The provision establishes legal basis for procedural mechanics. Practitioner: (i) compliance with statutory time limits; (ii) procedural fairness; (iii) appellate/writ remedies for procedural violations; (iv) faceless framework integration post FA 2020 / FA 2021. POST-FA 2020: faceless assessment scheme has substantially shifted assessment from physical to digital format; National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC) coordinates with Regional Faceless Assessment Centres (ReFACs); communications via e-filing portal.

PRACTITIONER NOTES

Compliance with this provision is critical for: (i) timely response to AO communications; (ii) preserving appellate rights; (iii) avoiding adverse inferences. Procedural violations may give rise to remedy via CIT(A) / NFAC / ITAT / writ jurisdiction. Recent FA 2021 changes to ss. 279-282 (escaped assessment) introduced significant procedural safeguards including pre-notice inquiry under s. 281 (1961 s. 148A) -- mandatory show-cause before reassessment notice.

CROSS-REFERENCES

Section 268 -- Inquiry before assessment.
Section 270 -- Assessment.
Section 273 -- Faceless Assessment.
Section 286 -- Time limits.
Section 287 -- Rectification.
Income-tax Rules, 2026 -- procedural rules.

← All sections (537)Act 2025 hub

INCOME-TAX ACT, 2025	INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961
INCOME-TAX ACT, 2025 -- s. 282	INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961 -- s. 149
Time limit for notices ss. 280/281	1961 s. 149