[23B. Power to make provisional assessment in advance of regular assessment.—

(1) The Income-tax Officer may, at any time after the receipt of a return made under section 22, proceed to make in a summary manner, a provisional assessment of the tax payable by the assessee, on the basis of his return and the accounts and documents, if any, accompanying it, after giving due effect to (i) the allowance referred to in paragraph (b) of the proviso to clause (vi) of sub-section (2) of section 10, and (ii) any loss carried forward under sub-section (2) of section 24.

(2) A partner of a firm may be provisionally assessed under sub-section (1) in respect of his share in the firm's income, profits and gains, if its return has been received, although the return of the partner himself may not have been received.

(3) A firm may be provisionally assessed under sub-section (1) as if it were an unregistered firm, unless the firm fulfils such conditions as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in that behalf.

(4) There shall be no right of appeal against a provisional assessment made under sub-section (1).

(5) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that the provisions of section 45 (except the first proviso) and section 46 apply in relation to any tax payable in pursuance of a provisional assessment made under sub-section (1) as if it were a regular assessment made under section 23.

(6) Income-tax paid ^{* *} under section 18 or section 18A in respect of any income provisionally assessed under sub-section (1), shall be deemed to have been paid towards the provisional assessment.

(7) After a regular assessment has been made under section 23, any amount paid or deemed to have been paid towards a provisional assessment made under sub-section (1), shall be deemed to have been paid towards the regular assessment; and where the amount paid or deemed to have been paid towards the provisional assessment, exceeds the amount payable under the regular assessment, the excess shall be refunded to the assessee.

(8) Nothing done or suffered by reason or in consequence of any provisional assessment made under this section shall prejudice the determination on the merits, of any issue which may arise in the course of the regular assessment under section 23.]

[As amended up to date]