Chapter XX of the Income-tax Act, 2025 runs from section 431 to section 438 and covers refunds. Its 8 sections replace 8 sections of the Income-tax Act, 1961. This guide gives the complete section-by-section mapping between the two Acts.
What Chapter XX covers
Chapter XX is the refund chapter — who can claim, in what form, within what time, and what interest is payable when the department holds your money.
Chapter XX contains 8 sections (sections 431 to 438). Between them they carry forward the substance of 8 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 XX
- Section 431 is the refund provision (old section 237) and section 433 carries the form and limitation (old section 239).
- Section 437 is interest on refunds — the new section 244A.
- Section 438 carries section 245, the set off and withholding of refunds against outstanding demand, which is the provision most often invoked when a refund does not arrive.
- Section 434 carries section 239A, refunds where a person denies liability to deduct tax.
Chapter XX: complete section mapping (2025 → 1961)
Every section of Chapter XX 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) |
|---|---|---|
| 431 | Refunds | 237 |
| 432 | Person entitled to claim refund in certain special cases | 238 |
| 433 | Form of claim for refund and limitation | 239 |
| 434 | Refund for denying liability to deduct tax in certain cases | 239A |
| 435 | Refund on appeal, etc | 240 |
| 436 | Correctness of assessment not to be questioned | 242 |
| 437 | Interest on refunds | 244A |
| 438 | Set off and withholding of refunds in certain cases | 245 |
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.