Section 248 - Powers to requisition
Requisition differs from a fresh search: the material is already in official custody and is called for under the tax law.
Reviewed by CA Nikhil Gupta · Updated 9 October 2026
Current law and effective date
Section 248 is controlled against the consolidated Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by the Finance Act, 2026. The Act and Income-tax Rules, 2026 operate from 1 April 2026; earlier tax years and saved proceedings require the repeal-and-savings framework rather than automatic migration.
Primary statute: Income Tax Department consolidated Act | Rules: Notified Income-tax Rules, 2026
2-minute decode
Requisition differs from a fresh search: the material is already in official custody and is called for under the tax law.
Who should use this section
Taxpayers and authorised officers dealing with powers to requisition, together with advisers who need to verify jurisdiction, authority, service, evidence, procedural safeguards and the consequence of action under section 248.
How section 248 works in practice
Section 248 sits in Chapter 14 (Tax Administration) and should be read as a connected rule rather than an isolated label. The practical question is whether the facts actually satisfy the trigger for “Powers to requisition”. A section 248 procedural file should be capable of standing on its own. For section 248, record the statutory trigger, competent authority, jurisdiction order, date and mode of service, material supplied or seized, responses, hearings, approvals and every limitation date. For powers to requisition, defects in authority or process can matter independently of the underlying tax computation. The operating controls are: Verify authority, jurisdiction and statutory trigger; Preserve digital and physical chain of custody; Calendar response, release, disclosure and remedy deadlines. A reviewer should record why verify authority, jurisdiction and statutory trigger., because that conclusion drives the downstream computation, reporting or procedural consequence.
Old-law bridge
132A
The old-law bridge is a research aid, not an automatic precedent transfer. Match the old provision, the current section, saved proceedings and effective dates before importing an older interpretation.
Current-law control
No separate Finance Act 2026 delta is recorded for section 248 in the current-law register. The page therefore follows the consolidated Act wording and the current Rules mapping, with the official consolidated statute controlling if a later notification or amendment affects the provision.
Professional alert
Verify authority, jurisdiction and statutory trigger. Preserve digital and physical chain of custody. Calendar response, release, disclosure and remedy deadlines.
Connected Income-tax Rules, 2026 and Forms
Worked application
A finance team receives action concerning powers to requisition. It preserves the authorisation, jurisdiction record, service trail, documents supplied and a contemporaneous event log.
Evidence / compliance checklist
- Verify authority, jurisdiction and statutory trigger.
- Preserve digital and physical chain of custody.
- Calendar response, release, disclosure and remedy deadlines.
- Preserve authority, jurisdiction and service evidence for section 248.
- Maintain a dated event log for notices, access, seizure/requisition and release steps under section 248.
- Hash or otherwise preserve integrity of electronic records relied on for section 248 proceedings.
Common mistake
Responding on merits before checking whether section 248 was invoked by the correct authority through the correct procedure. For section 248, jurisdiction, authorisation, service, recorded reasons, evidence handling and limitation should be reviewed before substantive response strategy.
Recommended approach
For section 248, create a one-page legal-to-evidence matrix. For section 248, put the current statutory condition in the first column, the transaction or procedural fact in the second, the supporting document in the third, and the tax/procedural consequence in the fourth. The first checkpoint should be: Verify authority, jurisdiction and statutory trigger. This section 248 matrix makes reviewable differences visible before a return, opinion, notice response or litigation position is finalised.
Thresholds, rates, periods and timing checkpoints
- Section 248 has no standalone numeric checkpoint extracted for this register; use the official consolidated text for any amount, period or rate appearing in a fact-specific sub-clause.
Related provisions and interaction map
Section 248 interacts with the broader tax-administration framework: appointment/control, jurisdiction, transfer, faceless operation, evidence powers, search/requisition and asset/document handling. For section 248, procedural chronology and authority records are therefore as important as substantive tax calculations.
Direct navigation / cross-checks: section 247, section 249
Validated statutory core - official current source controlled
Text-status note: This page presents a validated operative statutory core rather than pretending a summary is verbatim law. Use the linked official consolidated Act before quoting sub-section language in a filing, opinion or litigation document.
Primary-source trail
Statute: Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by Finance Act, 2026
Rules: Income-tax Rules, 2026
Law navigation: Income Tax Department 2025 Act / Rules hub
Forms guidance: Official FAQs / Guidance Notes on Income-tax Rules, 2026 forms
Quoting note: The official consolidated Act controls verbatim legislative language.
FAQs
Does an old Income-tax Act, 1961 decision automatically decide section 248?
No. The old-law bridge helps research, but transferability depends on materially matching language, transition rules and any Finance Act 2026 change.
Which source should be quoted in advice or litigation?
Quote the official consolidated statute for the relevant tax year. Where this page presents a validated statutory core rather than complete verbatim text, use the official Act for sub-section wording.
What should be checked immediately before acting?
Re-check the current statutory text, the section-specific Rule/Form mapping and any notification or court order relevant to the exact facts. Section 248 should not be applied from a historic section number or a generic tax summary alone.