Rule 247 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Rule 247 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 sets the qualifications for registration as a valuer class of asset by class of asset, bars anyone in employment except valuers of works of art and virtual digital assets, and lists nine absolute disqualifications.
The structure of the rule
Sub-rule (1) of rule 247: for the purposes of section 514(2), the qualifications for registration as valuers for different classes of assets shall be as specified in the sub-rules that follow. Sub-rule (2) carries the qualifications class by class in a table; sub-rule (3) deals with everything the table does not cover; and sub-rules (4) onwards apply to every applicant whatever the class.
The table in rule 247(2) runs across several printed pages with two columns of dense qualification text. In the source text available here its text layer is fragmentary: four of the ten class names are missing entirely and several qualification cells break mid-sentence, losing thresholds and cross-references. The classes the text does clearly support are immovable property other than agricultural lands, plantations, forests, mines and quarries; coffee, tea, rubber or cardamom plantations; forest; mines and quarries; works of art; and life interest, reversions and interest in expectancy. The specific degrees, service periods and receipt thresholds for each class are not set out here rather than reconstructed from memory. Read the printed table before advising any applicant on a particular class.
What the table's readable parts do show is the shape of the test. For most classes an applicant qualifies by either a route through formal employment — a Gazetted post under Government, or a post under another employer at a stated minimum remuneration, left after a stated minimum service — or a route through independent practice, which additionally requires gross receipts from that practice above a stated figure in three of the five preceding years. A relevant post-graduate degree in valuation shortens the service requirement.
Assets outside the table
Sub-rule (3) of rule 247: the qualifications for a valuer of assets other than those covered in sub-rule (2) shall be determined by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, or the Principal Director General or Director General to whom the application was submitted — and that decision shall be conclusive.
The word conclusive is doing real work. For a novel asset class the qualification is not prescribed anywhere; it is settled case by case by the receiving authority, and the rule closes off argument about it.
The employment bar
Sub-rule (4): no person shall qualify for registration as a valuer if he is employed under Government or any other employer — other than as a valuer of:
- works of art;
- virtual digital assets; or
- such other class of assets as the Board may specify.
Sub-rule (4) of rule 247 is a general bar on any employment, public or private — not merely on Government service, and not merely on employment in a conflicting field. Read with the table, which for most classes requires the applicant to have retired or resigned from his employment, the scheme plainly contemplates an independent practitioner. The two named exceptions — works of art and virtual digital assets — are the classes where the necessary expertise sits almost entirely inside institutions, museums and exchanges rather than in private practice, which is why they are carved out.
The nine disqualifications
Sub-rule (5) opens with "irrespective of anything contained in sub-rules (1) to (4)". However well qualified, no person shall qualify for registration if:
| Clause | Disqualification |
|---|---|
| (a) | He has been dismissed or removed from Government service |
| (b) | He has been convicted of an offence connected with any proceeding under the repealed Income-tax Act, 1961, the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 or the repealed Gift-tax Act, 1958; or a penalty has been imposed on him under section 271(1)(iii), 273(i), 270A or 271J of the repealed 1961 Act, or under section 439 or 463 of the Act, or under section 18(1)(iii) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 or section 17(1) of the Gift-tax Act, 1958 |
| (c) | He is an undischarged insolvent |
| (d) | He has been convicted of any offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment |
| (e) | He has been found guilty of misconduct in his professional capacity, being a member of an association or institution in India controlling, supervising, regulating or encouraging the profession of engineering, architecture, accountancy or company secretaries, or another profession the Board specifies |
| (f) | He is a minor |
| (g) | He has been declared to be of unsound mind |
| (h) | He has not been found fit to be registered — decided on reasons to be recorded in writing, after granting an opportunity of being heard |
| (i) | He is an undischarged bankrupt or has applied to be adjudicated as bankrupt |
Eight of the nine grounds in rule 247(5) are objective facts — a dismissal, a conviction, a penalty order, an adjudication. Clause (h) is different: not found fit is a judgment, and it could otherwise swallow the list. The rule constrains it with two safeguards that no other clause carries — the decision must be on reasons recorded in writing and only after an opportunity of being heard. A refusal under clause (h) without a reasoned order or a hearing is challengeable on the rule's own terms. Note also clause (b): a penalty alone disqualifies, with no conviction required, and the list of penalty provisions reaches back into three repealed or superseded statutes.
Counting the experience
Sub-rule (6): where a sub-rule requires ten years or five years of having rendered service in any capacity, taught any subject, practised any profession, or gained experience in any other capacity or field, that requirement is deemed fulfilled if the periods, taken either singly or collectively, come to not less than ten or five years as the case may be.
This is a genuine concession under rule 247. An applicant who spent four years in Government service, three years teaching and four years in practice reaches eleven years in aggregate and is not defeated by having no single unbroken period.
Two definitional sub-rules
| Sub-rule | Provision |
|---|---|
| (7) | "Recognised University" means any University in India established by law in force; any educational institution recognised by the University Grants Commission by notification; or any foreign university or educational institution whose degree the Association of Indian Universities determines to be equivalent to a degree conferred by an Indian University |
| (8) | Where the membership of an institution is recognised by the Central Government as a qualification for recruitment to civil services or posts, that membership is not regarded as a requisite qualification under rule 247 unless it was granted on the basis of passing the examinations conducted by the institution |
Sub-rule (8) is aimed squarely at honorary, elective or exempted memberships. Recognition for civil service recruitment is not enough; the membership must have been earned by examination.
Disposal of the application
Sub-rule (9): the application under rule 246(1) may be disposed of by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, or the Principal Director General or Director General, by granting approval or rejecting it, within six months from the end of the month in which it is made. Sub-rule (10): that authority may call for any relevant information from the applicant before disposing of it.
Worked example
| Facts | Position under rule 247 |
|---|---|
| Civil engineer in full-time employment with a developer | Barred by sub-rule (4) — the bar covers any employer |
| Museum curator applying to value works of art | Within the exception in sub-rule (4) |
| Exchange employee applying to value virtual digital assets | Within the exception |
| Applicant penalised under section 270A of the repealed 1961 Act | Disqualified — clause (b) needs only a penalty |
| Applicant acquitted but earlier found guilty of misconduct by his institute | Disqualified — clause (e) |
| Applicant has applied to be adjudicated bankrupt | Disqualified — clause (i) catches the application itself |
| Refused as "not fit" with no reasons and no hearing | Clause (h)'s own safeguards were not met |
| Six years' service plus five years' teaching | Eleven years in aggregate under sub-rule (6) |
| Degree from a foreign university | Counts if the AIU treats it as equivalent |
| Honorary membership of a recognised institution | Not a qualification — sub-rule (8) requires passing its examinations |
| Application for a novel asset class | Qualification determined by the receiving authority, conclusively |
| No decision six months after the month end | Sub-rule (9) sets that outer period for disposal |
Compliance checklist
- Identify the class of asset first — under rule 247 the qualification is class-specific.
- Read the printed table for the class, since its detail does not reproduce reliably in extracted text.
- Confirm the applicant is not in any employment, unless valuing works of art or virtual digital assets.
- Screen against all nine disqualifications, including penalties under the repealed 1961, 1957 and 1958 statutes.
- Aggregate service, teaching and practice to reach the ten-year or five-year test.
- Check the university against the three limbs of "recognised University".
- Where relying on institutional membership, confirm it was granted on examination.
- Expect disposal within six months from the end of the application month, and be ready to answer a call for information.
Common mistakes
- Applying while still in employment, outside the two named exceptions.
- Overlooking a penalty order, which disqualifies without any conviction.
- Assuming a single unbroken period is needed when sub-rule (6) allows aggregation.
- Relying on an honorary or exempted membership.
- Accepting a "not fit" refusal that carries no recorded reasons or hearing.
- Treating the sub-rule (3) determination as appealable when the rule makes it conclusive.
Which year this governs
The Income-tax Rules, 2026 are made under the Income-tax Act, 2025. Rule 247 has no 1962 parallel — the predecessor registered-valuer qualifications sat under the Wealth-tax Act, 1957. Verify the printed class table before advising on any particular class of asset.