Punishment Not to be Imposed in Certain Cases

Section 486 — - PUNISHMENT NOT TO BE IMPOSED IN CERTAIN CASES

Section 486 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 corresponds to s. 278AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

STATUTORY ARCHITECTURE

Reasonable cause defence -- no person punishable for failures referred to in ss. 476-481 if he proves reasonable cause for the failure.

PRACTITIONER PLANNING NOTES

• Statutory cushion mirroring s. 273B [s. 470 of 2025] in penalty context.
• Reasonable cause -- bona fide belief, force majeure, technical failures.
• ICAI Guidance Note + CBDT Circulars enumerate accepted reasonable causes.

CROSS-REFERENCES

• s. 491 [279] -- sanction and compounding.
• s. 486 [278AA] -- reasonable cause.
• s. 487 [278B] -- offences by companies.
• s. 490 [278E] -- presumption of culpable mental state.