HomeCirculars › RBI/2007-08/280

Mandatory E-Payment of Taxes from April 1, 2008

Current · Source: Reserve Bank of India · RBI/2007-08/280 · issued 10 Apr 2008 · ~2 min read
Quick answerFrom April 1, 2008, companies and persons covered under Section 44AB must pay taxes electronically. Banks must not accept physical challans from these taxpayers and must provide immediate e-payment acknowledgements.
The rule, in the simplest words
How it plays out — a real example

A branch operations officer in Indore, Mr. Kumar, helps a company pay its taxes electronically. He ensures that the company's PAN number starts with 'C' and that they receive an immediate e-payment acknowledgement on screen. If the company faces any issues, Mr. Kumar provides them with the contact details of the officials who can assist them.

What changed

The Central Board of Direct Taxes made electronic payment of taxes mandatory for companies and persons covered under Section 44AB of the Income Tax Act, effective April 1, 2008. Banks are instructed to stop accepting physical challans from these categories and to ensure e-payment acknowledgements are available on screen immediately.

What it means for you

Banks must update their processes to reject physical tax payments from companies (identifiable by 'C' as the 4th digit of PAN) and Section 44AB taxpayers. They cannot demand proof of eligibility for physical challans; the taxpayer's word is final. Banks must display contact details on e-payment gateways and share a list of officials with ITD and NSDL for issue resolution.

What you must do

Who it affects

State Bank of India and its Associates, All Nationalised banks, Axis Bank Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, IDBI Ltd, J&K Bank Ltd, All branches handling tax payments

❓ Common questions

Regulatory timeline

Built from our lineage records — each fact carries its provenance; missing history simply is not shown (never guessed).

How do we identify corporate taxpayers at the counter?

Corporate taxpayers can be identified by their name, and the 4th digit of their PAN will always be 'C'. Physical challans from such entities must not be accepted.

What if a taxpayer covered under Section 44AB insists on paying via physical challan?

Do not insist on any proof of eligibility. The responsibility for e-payment lies with the taxpayer, so their word should be taken as final. Physical challans should not be accepted.

What should we do if a taxpayer faces issues during e-payment?

Your bank's e-payment gateway must prominently display contact details of officials to assist. Also, share a list of such officials with ITD and NSDL for escalation.

📜 Read the original circular — full text as issued by RBI
RBI/2007-08/280 DGBA.GAD. No. H. 10875 / 42.01.038 /2007-08 April 10, 2008 The Chairman & Managing Director/Managing Director State Bank of India and its Associates/ All Nationalised banks/ Axis Bank Ltd/ HDFC Bank Ltd/ ICICI Bank Ltd/ IDBI Ltd/ J&K Bank Ltd. Dear Sir, Mandatory electronic payment of tax by certain Categories of taxpayers w.e.f. 1.4.2008 As you are aware, the Central Board of Direct Taxes vide their Notification No. 34/2008 dated 13-3-2008 (copy enclosed) have made electronic payment of taxes mandatory for the following categories of tax payers w.e.f. 01.04.2008 : a. A company b. A person (other than a company), to whom provisions of Section  44AB are applicable.  2. In this regard the following instructions may be kept in mind while implementing the Government Notification: i) the status of all corporate taxpayers can be identified from the name itself. Further, the 4th digit of the PAN of all corporate assessee would necessary be “C” . Physical challans from such assessees shall not be accepted across the counter. ii) In case of tax payers covered under Section 44AB, there should be no insistence of any proof of eligibility to pay tax through physical challans at the bank counters. The responsibility of making e- payment rests primarily with the taxpayer.  Hence, the word of taxpayers should be taken as final. iii) the acknowledgement  for e-payment should be made available immediately on screen by the bank concerned. iv) the transaction id of e-payment should be reflected in the bank’s statement. v) each bank should prominently display on its e-payment gateway page, the official /s to be contacted in case the taxpayer faces any difficulty in making the payment, completing the e-transaction, generating the counterfoil etc. vi) each bank should give the ITD and NSDL a list of officials with contact particulars, to be contacted if required for any problems faced by ITD or taxpayers. 3. Necessary instructions may be issued to your branches concerned. Yours faithfully, (M.T.Varghese) General Manager
Reproduced for reference with acknowledgment — Source: Reserve Bank of India · RBI/2007-08/280 · issued 10 Apr 2008. The plain-English explanation above is BankPulse’s own independent summary.
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Who does what — compliance checklist
🏦 Branch Manager
  • Update branch staff to refuse physical challans from companies and Section 44AB taxpayers from April 1, 2008.
  • Communicate these instructions to all relevant branches.
📜 Compliance
  • Ensure e-payment acknowledgements are generated and displayed on screen immediately after transaction completion.
  • Display contact details of bank officials on the e-payment gateway page for taxpayer assistance.
  • Provide ITD and NSDL with a list of officials and their contact details for issue escalation.
Grouped from the action items above — a single circular may involve more than one team.
Worked example & action-note template

Example: if you are a Branch Manager at a bank this circular applies to (State Bank of India and its Associates, All Nationalised banks, Axis Bank Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, IDBI Ltd, J&K Bank Ltd, All branches handling tax payments), your first concrete step on “Mandatory E-Payment of Taxes from April 1, 2008” is: “Update branch staff to refuse physical challans from companies and Section 44AB taxpayers from April 1, 2008.” (RBI issued this 10 Apr 2008).

  1. Circular: RBI/2007-08/280 -- Mandatory E-Payment of Taxes from April 1, 2008
  2. Issued: 10 Apr 2008
  3. Action required: Update branch staff to refuse physical challans from companies and Section 44AB taxpayers from April 1, 2008.
  4. Action required: Ensure e-payment acknowledgements are generated and displayed on screen immediately after transaction completion.
  5. Action required: Display contact details of bank officials on the e-payment gateway page for taxpayer assistance.
  6. Action required: Provide ITD and NSDL with a list of officials and their contact details for issue escalation.
  7. Action required: Communicate these instructions to all relevant branches.
  8. Owner: ____________ Target date: ____________
  9. Board/committee approval needed? Y / N
  10. Evidence filed in compliance register on: ____________
Built only from this circular’s own published fields — not legal advice; always confirm against the official RBI source.

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Official RBI source: https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=4114&Mode=0 — Plain-English summary by BankPulse (bankpulse.ai), reviewed by our expert reviewer, CA Amit Jain. Independent platform, not affiliated with the Reserve Bank of India; is our own plain-English paraphrase, not RBI’s original wording.
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