Section 192 of the Income Tax Act
Income-tax Act, 2025: s.402
Section 192 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 corresponds to section 402 (Interpretation) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Read section 402 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 192 is 254 ITR 121 (Guj) ITO v. Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Co. Ltd. (243 ITR 435), cited in 173 of the 853 judgments on BharatTax that turn on this section.
Leading authorities on Section 192
An employer is not in default under section 201 if they have made a bona fide estimate of employee income and deducted tax at source based on that estimate.
An employer making a bona fide estimate of taxable salary income is acting in accordance with established legal precedent.
An employer is not statutorily obligated to collect evidence from employees regarding the actual utilization of amounts paid towards leave travel concession or conveyance allowance, unless specific requirements are mandated by law or a CBDT circular.
An order dismissing all grounds of appeal based on a single issue, in violation of Section 250(6), is an unlawful adjudication and renders the order irregular, making it a fit case for remand.
A decree or proceeding initiated by an authority without jurisdiction is a nullity, void ab initio, and its invalidity can be raised at any stage, including in collateral proceedings or for the first time on appeal, as a defect of jurisdiction cannot be cured even by consent.
An appellate authority cannot travel beyond the provisions of law when adjudicating matters, as doing so is barred by jurisdiction and renders the action otiose.
Expenses incurred and reimbursed for seconded employees under a secondment agreement are not liable to tax deduction at source and do not constitute 'fees for technical services'. The secondment agreement itself forms an independent arrangement for securing services.
The applicability of a tax treaty can determine the levy of surcharge on income. When a tax treaty is decided in favour of the assessee, related grounds of appeal concerning surcharge may not require separate adjudication.
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.