Income-tax Act, 1961 · Chapter XXII: Offences and Prosecutions
Section 278AA: Punishment not to be imposed in certain cases
The Income-tax Act, 1961 was repealed by the Income-tax Act, 2025 from 1 April 2026. The text is kept here because the judgments below apply it.
Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of section 276A, section 276AB, [or section 276B,] no person shall be punishable for any failure referred to in the said provisions if he proves that there was reasonable cause for such failure.]
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 278AA
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.