55Interest payable by assessee in case of
under-estimate, etc.
56216. Where, on making the regular assessment, the 57[Assessing] Officer finds that any assessee
has—
58[(a) under
59[section 209A or
section 212] under-estimated the advance tax
payable by him and thereby reduced the amount payable in either of the first
two instalments ; or]
(b) under section 213
wrongly deferred the payment of advance tax on a part of his income ;
he may direct that the assessee shall pay
simple interest at 60[fifteen] per cent per annum—
(i) in the case referred to in clause (a),
for the period during which the payment was deficient, on the difference
between the amount paid in each such instalment and the amount which should
have been paid, having regard to the aggregate advance tax actually paid during
the year ; and
(ii) in the case referred to in clause (b), for the period during
which the payment of advance tax was so deferred.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, any
instalment due before the expiry of six months from the commencement of the
previous year in respect of which it is to be paid shall be deemed to have
become due fifteen days after the expiry of the said six months.