Sections 25-29 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.
The last five sections of the appeals group are short and each answers a separate practical question. Section 25 says tax stays payable while a High Court or Supreme Court appeal is pending. Section 26 deals with executing an order for costs awarded by the Supreme Court. Section 27 deals with amending the assessment of a body of individuals or association of persons after an appeal. Section 28 excludes the time taken for obtaining a copy of an order. Section 29 deals with how the department decides whether to appeal. The text is read from the Act as enacted and published in the Gazette of India on 27 May 2015.
Despite an appeal to the High Court or the Supreme Court, tax is to be paid in accordance with the assessment made under this Act (section 25). A body of individuals or association of persons can be reassessed on its members after an appeal (section 27). Time for obtaining a copy of the order is left out of the appeal period (section 28). The Board may set monetary limits for departmental appeals, and no assessee can say the department acquiesced by not appealing (section 29).
Section 25: tax is paid even while a higher appeal is pending
Section 25 reads: "Notwithstanding any appeal preferred to the High Court or the Supreme Court, the tax shall be paid in accordance with the assessment made under this Act."
The effect is plain. Filing an appeal to the High Court under section 19 or to the Supreme Court under section 21 does not suspend payment of tax. The words "in accordance with the assessment made under this Act" tie the payment to the assessment as it stands. The section does not say anything about a stay of recovery, or about what happens when the appeal succeeds, and this article does not fill that silence. On the High Court judgment, section 19(10) says that effect shall be given to the order passed on the appeal by the Assessing Officer, and section 22(3) says the same for a Supreme Court order that varies or reverses the High Court judgment.
For the earlier stages, the position is different in the text: section 30(3) lets the Assessing Officer extend the time or allow instalments, including during the pendency of an appeal with the Commissioner (Appeals); see sections 30 and 31. If you face a demand while an appeal is pending, a legal dispute resolution adviser can help you plan the payment and the appeal together.
Section 26: costs awarded by the Supreme Court
Section 26 says the High Court may, on petition made for the execution of the order in respect of the costs awarded by the Supreme Court, transmit such order for execution to any court subordinate to it. So a party who has been awarded costs by the Supreme Court in an appeal under section 21 goes to the High Court by petition, and the High Court may send the order to a subordinate court for execution. The section does not describe the petition or any time for it.
Section 27: amendment of assessment on appeal for a body or association
Section 27 applies where, as a result of an appeal under section 15 or section 18, any change is made in the assessment of a body of individuals or an association of persons, or an order for new assessment of such a body or association is made. In that case, the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Appellate Tribunal, as the case may be, "shall pass an order authorising the Assessing Officer either to amend the assessment made or make a fresh assessment on any member of the body or association".
The effect is that the change made on appeal for the body can be carried to each member by an authorised amendment or a fresh assessment. The members of such bodies are "participants" as section 2(7) defines them, and their liability is dealt with in sections 35 and 36.
Section 28: time for obtaining a copy is left out
Section 28 reads: "In computing the period of limitation prescribed for an appeal under this Act, the day on which the notice of the order was served upon the assessee without serving a copy of the order, the time taken for obtaining a copy of such order, shall be excluded."
The sentence is printed in this form, with the "day on which the notice of the order was served" and "the time taken for obtaining a copy" side by side. Read together, the idea is that where the notice of the order is served without a copy of the order, the time taken for getting a copy is left out when counting the period for an appeal. The drafting is compressed and the wording is quoted as printed. The periods this affects are the thirty days in section 15(3) and the sixty days in section 18(3). If you did not receive a copy with the notice, keep a record of the date you asked for it and the date you received it.
Section 29: departmental appeals and Board limits
Section 29 has five sub-sections.
| Sub-section | What it says |
|---|---|
| (1) | The Board may from time to time issue orders, instructions or directions to other tax authorities, fixing such monetary limits as it may deem fit, for the purpose of regulating the filing of appeal by any tax authority under this Chapter |
| (2) | If a tax authority has not filed an appeal on an issue in an assessee's case for a financial year in pursuance of such directions, it does not preclude an appeal on the same issue for the same assessee for any other financial year, or for any other assessee for the same or any other financial year |
| (3) | An assessee, being a party in any appeal, cannot contend that the tax authority has acquiesced in the decision on the disputed issue by not filing an appeal in any case |
| (4) | The Appellate Tribunal, hearing such appeal, shall have regard to the orders, instructions or directions issued under sub-section (1) and the circumstances under which such appeal was filed or not filed |
| (5) | Every order, instruction or direction of the Board fixing monetary limits is deemed issued under sub-section (1), and sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) apply |
Two points follow. First, a decision by the department not to appeal in one case, because of a monetary limit, does not stop it from appealing the same issue in another year or against another assessee. Second, an assessee cannot use the department's silence in one case as an argument that it accepted the decision. The Act itself sets no monetary limit; this article states none.
An example
Tarun Bose loses before the Appellate Tribunal and appeals to the High Court. The assessed tax remains payable under section 25 while the appeal is pending. His family association was assessed as an association of persons; after the Commissioner (Appeals) changed that assessment, the Commissioner (Appeals) authorised the Assessing Officer, under section 27, to amend the assessment or make a fresh assessment on any member. For his own Tribunal appeal, Tarun counted the sixty days from the date he actually received a copy of the order, because the notice had reached him without a copy and section 28 leaves out the time taken for obtaining it.
Need help with an appeal and a demand at the same time?
When tax is payable while an appeal runs, the order of steps matters: payment, extension requests, the appeal itself and the copy of the order. Our legal dispute resolution team can help you sequence them.
Key takeaways
- Tax is payable in accordance with the assessment even if an appeal is pending in the High Court or the Supreme Court (section 25).
- A Supreme Court costs order is executed through the High Court, which may transmit it to a subordinate court (section 26).
- After an appeal for a body of individuals or association of persons, the Assessing Officer may be authorised to amend or make a fresh assessment on any member (section 27).
- Time taken for obtaining a copy of the order is excluded when counting the appeal period (section 28).
- The Board may fix monetary limits for departmental appeals; a decision not to appeal does not prevent an appeal in another case, and cannot be argued as acquiescence (section 29).
- Later Finance Act amendments to sections 25 to 29 must be checked before acting. These sections cite no section of the Income-tax Act, 1961; where income-tax law is mentioned, it means that Act as printed in 2015, and the corresponding provision of the current income-tax law should be checked.
Read next
- Sections 19-22: appeals to the High Court and the Supreme Court
- Sections 30-31: recovery of tax dues by the Assessing Officer and the Tax Recovery Officer
- Section 18: appeal to the Appellate Tribunal
- Limitation periods for suits and appeals under Indian law
Disclaimer: Based on the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 as enacted and published in the Gazette of India on 27 May 2015, and on the Rules of 2015 as notified on 2 July 2015, as consulted on 2 October 2026. Later Finance Act amendments, amendment rules and the current income-tax law should be checked. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.