¹[7C. Interest payable by assessee.--(1) Where, in any financial year, a company has paid advance surtax under section 7A on the basis of its own estimate (including revised estimate), and the advance surtax so paid is less than eighty-three and one-third per cent. of the assessed surtax, simple interest at the rate of ²[fifteen per cent.] per annum from the 1st day of April next following the said financial year up to the date of the regular assessment shall be payable by the company upon the amount by which the advance surtax so paid falls short of the assessed surtax.
     (2) Where, on making the regular assessment, the ³[Assessing Officer] finds--
         (a) that any such company as is referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (5) of section 7A has not sent the statement referred to in that clause or the estimate in lieu of such statement referred to in sub-section (6) of that section; or
         (b) that any such company as is referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (5) of section 7A has not sent the estimate referred to in that clause.
simple interest at the rate of ²[fifteen per cent.] per annum from the 1st day of April next following the financial year in which the advance surtax was payable in accordance with the said sub-section (5) or sub-section (6) up to the date of the regular assessment shall be payable by the company upon the amount equal to the assessed surtax.
     (3) Where, on making the regular assessment, the ³[Assessing Officer] finds that any company which is required to send an estimate under sub-section (8) of section 7A has not sent the estimate referred to therein, simple interest at the rate of ²[fifteen per cent.] per annum from the 1st day of April next following the financial year in which the advance surtax was payable in accordance with the said sub-section (8) up to the date of the regular assessment shall be payable by the company upon the amount by which the advance surtax paid by it falls short of the assessed surtax.
     (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing sub-sections, where provisional assessment is made under section 7--
         (i) interest shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) or, as the case may be, sub-section (3) up to the date on which the surtax provisionally assessed is paid; and
         (ii) thereafter interest shall be calculated at the rate of ²[fifteen per cent.] per annum on the amount by which the surtax provisionally assessed falls short of the assessed surtax.
     (5) In such cases and under such circumstances as may be prescribed, the ³[Assessing Officer] may reduce or waive the interest payable by the company under this section.
     (6) Where, as a result of an order under section 11, or section 12, or section 13, or section 17, or section 18 read with section 260 or section 262 of the Income-tax Act, the amount on which interest was payable under this section has been reduced, the interest shall be reduced accordingly and the excess interest paid, if any, shall be refunded.
     (7) In this section and section 9A, "assessed surtax" means the surtax determined on the basis of the regular assessment without making any deduction therefrom.]