What does section 50 regulate?

It regulates interest on delayed payment of tax. Read the exact text, conditions, exceptions and transaction date together.

Which subordinate law should be checked?

Rule 88B. Notifications, circulars, forms and the corresponding SGST/UTGST layer may also apply.

What evidence should be retained?

Preserve the contract or transaction record, invoice or form, portal acknowledgement, payment/ledger evidence, correspondence, legal working and the official source version used.

Can portal behaviour override the statute?

No. Portal functionality is operational evidence; legal entitlement and liability remain controlled by the Act, Rules, notifications and binding decisions.

Section 50 - Interest on delayed payment of tax

Chapter X - Payment of Tax

ACTIVEOFFICIAL_TEXT_CAPTUREDindex,follow

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Finin2min Summary - Section in 2 Minutes

Levies interest on delayed tax payment and on ITC wrongly availed and utilised. For delayed section 39 returns, interest generally applies to the cash-paid portion, except returns filed after commencement of section 73/74/74A proceedings. Wrong ITC attracts interest only when both availed and utilised, calculated under rule 88B. Rates are notified within statutory caps.

Exact operative text

50. Interest on delayed payment of tax.-(1) Every person who is liable to pay tax in accordance with the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, but fails to pay the tax or any part thereof to the Government within the period prescribed, shall for the period for which the tax or any part thereof remains unpaid, pay, on his own, interest at such rate, not exceeding eighteen per cent., as may be notified by the Government on the recommendations of the Council. Provided that the interest on tax payable in respect of supplies made during a tax period and declared in the return for the said period furnished after the due date in accordance with the provisions of section 39, except where such return is furnished after commencement of any proceedings under section 73 or section 74 or section 74A in respect of the said period, shall be payable on that portion of the tax which is paid by debiting the electronic cash ledger. (2) The interest under sub-section (1) shall be calculated, in such manner as may be prescribed, from the day succeeding the day on which such tax was due to be paid. (3) Where the input tax credit has been wrongly availed and utilised, the registered person shall pay interest on such input tax credit wrongly availed and utilised, at such rate not exceeding twenty-four per cent. as may be notified by the Government, on the recommendations of the Council, and the interest shall be calculated, in such manner as may be prescribed.

Paragraph-wise decode

Section-Rule-Form-Notification bridge

Rule 88B

The mapping is a legal concordance, not a round-robin related-link list. It is limited to instruments certified in this phase.

Practical example

An ineligible credit of 5 lakh is entered but the electronic credit ledger never falls below that amount until reversal. Rule 88B utilisation test is central to interest analysis.

Professional alert

Interest is compensatory and often system- computed, but taxpayers should independently test dates, cash component and credit utilisation.

Implementation checklist

Fix the transaction, taxable period and jurisdiction.
Read every subsection, proviso, explanation and omission marker.
Open the mapped Rule, form, notification and circular.
Test State/UT variation and portal version.
Preserve evidence, approvals, working papers and acknowledgements.
Record the conclusion, assumptions, source date and reviewer.

Evidence and retention checklist

Contract, purchase order, invoice or underlying transaction document.
Registration, return, ledger, challan and portal acknowledgement.
Official Act/Rule/notification version used and effective date.
Internal tax position paper, computation and management approval.
Correspondence, notices, replies, orders and appeal papers where applicable.

Practical Q&A

What does section 50 regulate?: It regulates interest on delayed payment of tax. Read the exact text, conditions, exceptions and transaction date together.
Which subordinate law should be checked?: Rule 88B. Notifications, circulars, forms and the corresponding SGST/UTGST layer may also apply.
What evidence should be retained?: Preserve the contract or transaction record, invoice or form, portal acknowledgement, payment/ledger evidence, correspondence, legal working and the official source version used.
Can portal behaviour override the statute?: No. Portal functionality is operational evidence; legal entitlement and liability remain controlled by the Act, Rules, notifications and binding decisions.

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