Section 528: power to condone delay in obtaining approval

Introduction

Section 528 addresses a missed statutory date for obtaining approval from the Central Government or the Board. It allows the same authority to condone delay where there is sufficient cause.

The wording is discretionary: it makes condonation possible rather than automatic. The section is confined to approvals of those two authorities required before a specified date under the Act; it is not a general extension for every filing or approval deadline.

Key takeaways

What Section 528 says

"Where, the approval of the Central Government or the Board is required to be obtained before a specified date under this Act, it shall be open to the Central Government or the Board to condone, for sufficient cause, any delay in obtaining such approval."

When this provision applies

Identify the precise provision requiring approval of the Central Government or the Board before a specified date. The missed requirement must fit that description; approval by another authority or an unrelated filing deadline is not automatically covered.

Prepare a chronology showing the required date, the steps taken to obtain approval and the circumstances causing the delay. The statutory basis for relief is sufficient cause, so the explanation should be supported by contemporaneous material.

Limits and procedural safeguards

Condonation of delay and satisfaction of the substantive approval conditions are separate questions. The power to excuse lateness does not by itself establish that the underlying approval should be granted.

The section states no universal application form or fixed maximum delay for every approval. Follow the applicable procedure for the particular approval and obtain the authority’s actual decision instead of treating a submitted request as granted relief.

Step-by-step review

1. Identify the approval provision, competent authority and statutory date.

2. Calculate the delay and assemble a dated explanation with supporting evidence.

3. Submit the condonation request through the applicable procedure while addressing the underlying approval conditions separately.

4. Retain the decision and check its scope before relying on the late approval in a tax computation.

Hypothetical example

Hypothetical illustration: an applicant required to obtain Board approval before a specified statutory date misses it because of circumstances documented in the application record. Section 528 permits consideration of sufficient cause. Filing that explanation does not itself condone the delay or prove the applicant meets the substantive approval criteria.

Records to prepare

The approval provision and the required date.

Application history, correspondence and evidence explaining the delay.

The condonation decision, approval decision and any conditions attached.

Official amended Act source

• Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by Finance Act, 2026: Section 528 and related provisions

Step-by-step flow for applying Section 528

1. 1

   Does the Act require approval of the Central Government or the Board before a specified date?

   • No: Section 528 does not apply.
   • Yes: Go to the next step.
2. 2

   Was there a delay in obtaining the approval?

   • No: No condonation is needed.
   • Yes: Go to the next step.
3. 3

   Is there sufficient cause for the delay?

   Section 528 allows condonation only for sufficient cause. Record the reasons and keep supporting evidence.

4. 4

   Will the Central Government or the Board condone the delay?

   The words "it shall be open to" make condonation a power of the Government or the Board, not a right of the person.

   • Condoned: The delay in obtaining approval is condoned.
   • Not condoned: The delay is not condoned under Section 528.

Practical checklist

Glossary

Condonation

The competent authority’s excusing of a delay for sufficient cause under the section.

Sufficient cause

The supported reason on which the authority may exercise the delay-condonation power.

Frequently asked questions