Chapter XVI of the Income-tax Act, 2025 runs from section 268 to section 301 and covers procedure for assessment. Its 34 sections replace 34 sections of the Income-tax Act, 1961. This guide gives the complete section-by-section mapping between the two Acts.
What Chapter XVI covers
Chapter XVI is the assessment chapter — inquiry, regular and best judgment assessment, faceless assessment, reassessment of escaped income, rectification, and the special block assessment procedure for search cases.
Chapter XVI contains 34 sections (sections 268 to 301). Between them they carry forward the substance of 34 sections of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
The Income-tax Act, 2025 received Presidential assent on 21 August 2025 and takes effect from 1 April 2026. The Income-tax Act, 1961 continues to govern every tax year up to 31 March 2026, and all assessments, appeals, penalties and prosecutions relating to those years are completed under the old Act by virtue of the repeal and savings provision in section 536. The mapping on this page is drawn from the section-wise concordance published with the Act, including the corrigenda notified in the Gazette on 3 September 2025.
What changed in Chapter XVI
- Section 270 is the assessment section, replacing section 143 — so the familiar “143(1) intimation” and “143(3) scrutiny” now live under section 270.
- Reassessment renumbers as a block: 147 becomes 279, 148 becomes 280, 148A becomes 281, 149 becomes 282 and 151 becomes 284.
- Section 273 is faceless assessment (old section 144B) and section 275 is the Dispute Resolution Panel (old section 144C).
- Section 287 is rectification of mistake — the new section 154 — and section 289 is the notice of demand, the new section 156.
- Sections 292 to 301 carry the block assessment code for search cases, replacing the whole 158B series.
Chapter XVI: complete section mapping (2025 → 1961)
Every section of Chapter XVI is listed below with the section or sections of the Income-tax Act, 1961 that it corresponds to. Where a section is marked as read with a Schedule, the operative detail sits in that Schedule rather than in the section itself.
| New section (2025) | Provision | Corresponding 1961 section(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 268 | Inquiry before assessment | 142 |
| 269 | Estimation of value of assets by Valuation Officer | 142A |
| 270 | Assessment | 143 |
| 271 | Best judgment assessment | 144 |
| 272 | Power of Joint Commissioner to issue directions in certain cases | 144A |
| 273 | Faceless Assessment | 144B |
| 274 | Reference to Principal Commissioner or Commissioner in certain cases | 144BA |
| 275 | Reference to Dispute Resolution Panel | 144C |
| 276 | Method of accounting | 145 |
| 277 | Method of accounting in certain cases | 145A |
| 278 | Taxability of certain income | 145B |
| 279 | Income escaping assessment | 147 |
| 280 | Issue of notice where income has escaped assessment | 148 |
| 281 | Procedure before issuance of notice under section 280 | 148A |
| 282 | Time limit for notices under sections 280 and 281 | 149 |
| 283 | Provision for cases where assessment is in pursuance of an order on appeal, etc | 150 |
| 284 | Sanction for issue of notice | 151 |
| 285 | Other provisions | 152 |
| 286 | Time limit for completion of assessment, reassessment and recomputation | 153 |
| 287 | Rectification of mistake | 154 |
| 288 | Other amendments | 155 |
| 289 | Notice of demand | 156 |
| 290 | Modification and revision of notice in certain cases | 156A |
| 291 | Intimation of loss | 157 |
| 292 | Assessment of total undisclosed income as a result of search | 158BA |
| 293 | Computation of total undisclosed income of block period | 158BB |
| 294 | Procedure for block assessment | 158BC |
| 295 | Undisclosed income of any other person | 158BD |
| 296 | Time-limit for completion of block assessment | 158BE |
| 297 | Certain interests and penalties not to be levied or imposed | 158BF |
| 298 | Levy of interest and penalty in certain cases | 158BFA |
| 299 | Authority competent to make assessment of block period | 158BG |
| 300 | Application of other provisions of Act | 158BH |
| 301 | Interpretation | 158B |
How to use this mapping
- Working on a year up to 2025-26? Use the 1961 section in the right-hand column. The old Act governs those years under section 536.
- Working on tax year 2026-27 onwards? Use the new section number in the left-hand column, and read the section text rather than assuming the old provision was copied verbatim.
- Drafting a reply or an appeal? Cite the section that applies to the year in dispute, not the section in force when you are writing.
- Updating templates and software? Sections that merged — shown where one new section maps to several old ones — need the most attention, because a single new provision now carries what were separate conditions.
This page is a structural mapping guide, not tax advice. A corresponding section is not always an identical section — several provisions were merged, split or re-worded when they were carried over. Always read the actual text of the new section before relying on it, and check for later amendments, rules and CBDT notifications.