Income-tax Act, 1961 · Chapter XIX: Refunds
Section 240: Refund on appeal, etc
The Income-tax Act, 1961 was repealed by the Income-tax Act, 2025 from 1 April 2026.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.
Where, as a result of any order passed in appeal or other proceeding under this Act, refund of any amount becomes due to the assessee, the [AssessingOfficer] shall, except as otherwise provided in this Act, refund the amount to the assessee without his having to make any claim in that behalf:
[Provided that where, by the order aforesaid,—
(a) an assessment is set aside or cancelled and an order of fresh assessment is directed to be made, the refund, if any, shall become due only on the making of such fresh assessment;
(b) the assessment is annulled, the refund shall become due only of the amount, if any, of the tax paid in excess of the tax chargeable on the total income returned by the assessee.]
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.