INCOME TAX ACT 1961
SEC 160 – REPRESENTATIVE ASSESSEE
QUOTE:
(1) For the purposes of this Act, Representative assessee” means-
(i) in respect of the income of a nonresident specified in subsection (1) of section 9, the agent of the non- resident, including a person who is treated as an agent under section 163;
(ii) in respect of the income of a minor, lunatic or idiot, the guardian or manager who is entitled to receive or is in receipt of such income on behalf of such minor, lunatic or idiot;
(iii) in respect of income which the Court of Wards, the Administrator General, the Official Trustee or any receiver or manager (including any person whatever his designation, who in fact manages property on behalf of another) appointed by or under any order of a court, receives or is entitled to receive, on behalf or for the benefit of any person, such Court of Wards, Administrator General, Official Trustee, receiver or manager;
(iv) in respect of income which a trustee appointed under a trust declared by a duly executed instrument in writing whether testamentary or otherwise[ including any wakf deed which is valid under the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1913 (6 of 1913 ),] receives or is entitled to receive on behalf or for the benefit of any person, such trustee or trustees;
(v) in respect of income which a trustee appointed under an oral trust receives or is entitled to receive on behalf or for the benefit of any person, such trustee or trustees.
Explanation 1-A trust which is not declared by a duly executed instrument in writing[ including any wakf deed which is valid under the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1913 (6 of 1913 ),] shall be deemed, for the purposes of clause (iv), to be a trust declared by a duly executed, instrument in writing if a statement in writing, signed by the trustee or trustees, setting out the purpose or purposes of the trust, particulars as to the trustee or trustees, the beneficiary or beneficiaries and the trust property, is forwarded to the 2 Assessing] Officer,-
(i) where the trust has been declared before the, 1st day of June, 1981 , within a period of three months from that day; and
(ii) in any other case, within three months from the date of declaration of the trust.
Explanation 2.- For the purposes of clause (v),” oral trust” means a trust which is not declared by a duly executed instrument in writing [ including any wakf deed which is valid under the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1913 (6 of 1913 ),] and which is not deemed under Explanation 1 to be a trust declared by a duly executed instrument in writing.]
(2) Every representative assessee shall be deemed to be an assessee for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 161 – LIABILITY OF REPRESENTATIVE ASSESSEE
(1) Every representative assessee, as regards the income in respect of which he is a representative assessee, shall be subject to the same duties, responsibilities and liabilities as if the income were received by or accruing to or in favour of himself beneficially, and shall be liable to assessment in his own name in respect of that income; but any such assessment shall be deemed to be made upon him in his representative capacity only, and the tax shall, subject to the other provisions contained in this Chapter, be levied upon and recovered from him in like manner and to the same extent as it would be leviable upon and recoverable from the person represented by him.
(1A) 1 Notwithstanding anything contained in sub- section (1), where any income in respect of which the person mentioned in clause (iv) of subsection (1) of section 160 is liable as representative assessee consists of, or includes, profits and gains of business, tax shall be charged on the whole of the income in respect of which such person is so liable at the maximum marginal rate , provided that the provisions of this sub- section shall not apply where such profits and gains are receivable under a trust declared by any person by will exclusively for the benefit of any relative dependent on him for support and maintenance, and such trust is the only trust so declared by him.
(2) Where any person is, in respect of any income, assessable under this Chapter in the capacity of a representative assessee, he shall not, in respect of that income, be assessed under any other provision of this Act.
SECTION 162. RIGHT OF REPRESENTATIVE ASSESSEE TO RECOVER TAX PAID
(1) Every representative assessee who, as such, pays any sum under this Act, shall be entitled to recover the sum so paid from the person on whose behalf it is paid, or to retain out of any moneys that may be in his possession or may come to him in his representative capacity, an amount equal to the sum so paid.
(2) Any representative assessee, or any person who apprehends that he may be assessed as a representative assessee, may retain out of any money payable by him to the person on whose behalf he is liable to pay tax (hereinafter in this section referred to as the principal), a sum equal to his estimated liability under this Chapter, and in the event of any disagreement between the principal and such representative assessee or person as to the amount to be so retained, such representative assessee or person may secure from the Assessing Officer a certificate stating the amount to be so retained pending final settlement of the liability, and the certificate so obtained shall be his war- rant for retaining that amount.
(3) The amount recoverable from such representative assessee or person at the time of final settlement shall not exceed the amount specified in such certificate, except to the extent to which such representative assessee or person may, at such time, have in his hands additional assets of the principal.