Section 287 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 — Rectification of Mistake Apparent from the Record

In plain language

What Section 287 is about

Section 287 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 allows an income-tax authority to correct a "mistake apparent from the record" in any order or intimation it has passed. It is the direct successor to the well-known Section 154 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the operative language is deliberately preserved so that decades of settled case law continue to apply. In plain terms: if there is an obvious, glaring error in your assessment order, intimation or other order — a wrong figure, an arithmetic slip, a credit not given, a wrong tax rate applied — you (or the department) can get it fixed without going through a full appeal.

Who it applies to and who can act

• Which authorities: Any income-tax authority referred to in Section 236 (Assessing Officer, and higher authorities) can rectify its own orders.
• What can be rectified: Any order passed under the Act, plus intimations or deemed intimations under Section 270(1) (return processing) and intimations under Section 399 (TDS/TCS statements). Section 288 lists certain orders and situations treated as rectifiable.
• Who can trigger it: The authority can act suo motu (on its own), or on an application by the assessee, deductor or collector, or when the mistake is brought to notice by another authority.

What counts as a "mistake apparent from the record"

This is the heart of the section. The mistake must be obvious, patent and self-evident — visible on a plain reading of the record, needing no long argument or investigation.

• Covered: arithmetical or clerical errors, wrong carry-forward of losses, TDS credit shown in Form 26AS/AIS but not allowed, applying a plainly wrong tax rate, ignoring a mandatory statutory provision, a factual error visible on the record.
• Not covered: a debatable point of law, matters needing fresh evidence, re-appreciation of facts, or a change of opinion. If two views are possible, it is not a rectifiable mistake.

Key conditions and limits

• Appeal/revision bar: Under Section 287(2), an authority cannot rectify a matter that has already been considered and decided in appeal or revision (the doctrine of partial merger). Only the untouched portions of the order remain open to rectification.
• Opportunity of being heard: Under Section 287(4), no amendment that enhances an assessment, reduces a refund, or otherwise increases the taxpayer's liability can be made without giving a notice and a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
• Written order: Every rectification (whether allowing or refusing) must be by a written order.

Time limits — the two clocks

• Four-year outer limit: No rectification can be made after four years from the end of the financial year in which the order or intimation sought to be amended was passed.
• Six-month disposal rule: Where you file a rectification application, the authority must pass an order (allowing or refusing) within six months from the end of the month in which your application is received. This protects taxpayers from applications sitting indefinitely.

What happens after rectification

• Refund (Section 287(6)): If the amendment reduces your liability, the resulting refund is issued to the assessee, deductor or collector.
• Demand (Section 287(7)): If the amendment enhances the assessment or reduces a refund already made, a notice of demand under Section 289 is served, and that notice is treated as issued under this section.

Practical implications

Rectification is the quickest and cheapest way to fix an obvious error — there is no fee, and you can file online through the e-filing portal. But it is a narrow tool: use it only for clear-cut errors. If your grievance involves interpretation, disputed facts or a change of view, the correct route is an appeal, not rectification. Filing the wrong remedy can waste your limited time windows.