Section 15 of the Income Tax Act
Income-tax Act, 2025: s.15
Section 15 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 corresponds to section 15 (Salaries) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Read section 15 of the 2025 Act
Correspondence checked against the ICAI tabular mapping of the two Acts and the BharatTax.co section commentary.
The decision most relied on for Section 15 is CIT v. Avtar Singh Wadhwan (247 ITR 260), cited in 53 of the 120 judgments on BharatTax that turn on this section.
Leading authorities on Section 15
Salary received by a non-resident for services rendered outside India accrues outside India and is not taxable in India. Only salary earned for work performed in India is regarded as income arising in India and is taxable.
Retainer doctors engaged by a hospital fall under the purview of Section 194J of the Income Tax Act, requiring TDS, and not Section 192 which applies to salaries.
Tax is deductible at source on provisions made at the year-end, even if the payee is not identifiable at that point, as the obligation to deduct arises when the sum is credited to a suspense account or similar designation.
Payments made by an employer towards pension or annuity schemes are not taxable as perquisites in the hands of the employee unless the employee has acquired a vested right in the sum paid. Similarly, employer contributions to approved superannuation funds are not perquisites if the employee has no vested right.
A director can have a dual capacity, acting both as a director and an employee. Control over a company does not always need to be day-to-day and can be exercised through articles of association or by virtue of designation and seniority.
