Section 402 — Interpretation

For the purposes of this Chapter,—
( 1) “Administrator” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in section
2(a) of the Unit Trust of India (Transfer of Undertaking and Repeal)
Act, 2002 (58 of 2002);
( 2) “agricultural land” means agricultural land in India,—
( a) not being a land situated in any area referred to in section 2( 22)
(iii), for the purposes of section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 3(i)];
( b) including a land situated in any area referred to in section 2( 22)
(iii), for the purposes of section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 3(iii)];
( 3) “an incorrect claim apparent from any information in the statement”
shall mean a claim, on the basis of an entry, in the statement—
( a) of an item, which is inconsistent with another entry of the same or
some other item in such statement;
( b) in respect of rate of deduction of tax at source or rate of collection
of tax at source, where such rate is not as per the provisions of the
Act;
( 4) “authorised dealer” means a person authorised by the Reserve Bank of
India under section 10(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act,
1999 (42 of 1999) to deal in foreign exchange or foreign security;
94. Substituted by the Finance Act, 2026, w.e.f. 1-4-2026. Prior to its substitution, sub-section
(2) read as under :
“(2) The Board may issue guidelines with the previous approval of the Central Government,
to remove any difficulty arising in giving effect to the provisions of this Chapter and these
guidelines shall be laid before each House of Parliament.”
( 5) “banking company” means a banking company to which the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949) applies;
( 6) “buyer” for the purposes of provisions in column B of the Table below
means any person as specified in column C but does not include any
person as specified in column D:—
TABLE
Sl.
No.
Provisions Person Person not to be
included
A B C D
1. Purchase of goods
referred to in section
393(1) [Table: Sl. No.
8(ii)].
A person whose total
sales, gross receipts or
turnover from the busi-
ness carried on by him
exceed ten crore rupees
during the tax year im -
mediately preceding the
tax year in which the
purchase of goods is
carried out.
Any person, as the Central
Government may notify for
this purpose, subject to con-
ditions as may be specified
therein.
2. Sale of goods re -
ferred to in section
394(1) (Table: Sl.
Nos. 1 to 5).
A person who obtains
in any sale, by way of
auction, tender or any
other mode, goods of
the nature specified in
section 394(1) (Table: Sl.
Nos. 1 to 5), or the right
to receive any such goods.
( a) A public sector compa-
ny; or
( b) the Central or a State
Government, and an
embassy, a High Com-
mission, legation, com-
mission, consulate and
the trade representa -
tion, of a foreign State;
or
( c) a club; or
( d) a buyer in the retail
sale of such goods
purchased by him for
personal consumption.
3. Sale of motor ve -
hicle or any other
goods referred to
in section 394(1)
(Table: Sl. No. 6).
A person who obtains in
any sale, goods of the na-
ture specified in section
394(1) (Table: Sl. No. 6).
( a) A person as specified
in Sl. No. 2.D(b); or
( b) a local authority as
defined at Sche-dule
III (Table: Sl. No. 22);
or
( c) a public sector
company which
is engaged in the busi-
ness of carrying pas -
sengers.
Sl.
No.
Provisions Person Person not to be
included
A B C D
4. Remittance under
Liberalised Remit -
tance Scheme re -
ferred to in section
394(1) (Table: Sl.
No. 7).
A person remitting
amount under the Lib -
eralised Remittance
Scheme of Reserve Bank
of India.
( a) A person as per Sl. No.
2.D(a) or Sl. No. 3.D(b);
( b) Any other person as
the Central Govern -
ment may notify for
this purpose subject to
such conditions as may
be specified therein.
5. Sale of overseas tour
programme package
referred to in section
394(1) (Table: Sl.
No. 8).
A person who purchas -
es overseas tour pro -
gramme package.
A person as per Sl. No. 4.D.
( 7) “commission or brokerage” includes any payment received or receivable,
directly or indirectly, by a person acting on behalf of another person,—
( a) for services rendered (not being professional services); or
( b) for any services in the course of buying or selling of goods; or
(c) in relation to any transaction relating to any asset, valuable article
or thing, not being securities;
( 8) “computer resource”, “internet” and “online game” shall have the mean-
ings respectively assigned to them in section 194(2);
( 9) “consideration for transfer of any immovable property” shall include all
charges of the nature of,—
( a) club membership fee; or
( b) car parking fee; or
( c) electricity or water facility fee; or
( d) maintenance fee; or
( e) advance fee; or
( f) or any other charges of similar nature, which are incidental to
transfer of the immovable property;
( 10) “contract” shall include sub-contract;
( 11) “designated person”, for the purposes of section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 6
(i)], means—
( a) the Central Government or any State Government; or
( b) any local authority; or
( c) any corporation established by or under a Central Act or State Act
or Provincial Act; or
( d) any company; or
( e) any co-operative society; or
( f) any authority, constituted in India by or under any law, engaged
either for the purpose of dealing with and satisfying the need for
housing accommodation or for the purpose of planning, develop-
ment or improvement of cities, towns and villages, or for both; or
( g) any society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860
(21 of 1860) or under any law corresponding to that Act in force in
any part of India; or
( h) any trust; or
( i) any University established or incorporated by or under a Central
Act or State Act or Provincial Act and an institution declared to be
a university under section 3 of the University Grants Commission
Act, 1956 (3 of 1956); or
( j) any Government of a foreign State or a foreign enterprise or any
association or body established outside India; or
( k) any firm; or
( l) any person, being an individual or a Hindu undivided family or an
association of persons or a body of individuals, if such person,—
( i) does not fall under any of the preceding sub-clauses; and
( ii) has total sales, gross receipts or turnover from business or
profession carried on by him exceeding one crore rupees in
case of business or fifty lakh rupees in case of profession dur-
ing the tax year immediately preceding the tax year in which
such sum is credited or paid to the account of the contractor;
( 12) “electronic commerce” means the supply of goods or services, or both,
including digital products, over digital or electronic network;
( 13) “e-commerce operator” means a person who owns, operates or manages
digital or electronic facility or platform for electronic commerce;
( 14) “e-commerce participant” means a person resident in India selling goods
or providing services, or both, including digital products, through digital
or electronic facility or platform for electronic commerce;
( 15) “fees for technical services” shall have the meaning as assigned to it in
section 9(7)(b);
( 16) “foreign exchange asset” means any specified asset which the assessee
has acquired or purchased with, or subscribed to in, convertible foreign
exchange;
( 17) “Foreign Institutional Investor” shall have the meaning as assigned to it
in section 210(6)(a);
( 18) “goods carriage” shall have the meaning as assigned to it in section
58(11)(d);
( 19) “immovable property” means any land (other than agricultural land) or
any building or part of a building;
( 20) “investor” shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 221(6)(a), for
the purposes of section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 4( iv)] and section 393(2)
(Table: Sl. No. 9);
( 21) “licensee or lessee” means any person, other than a public sector
company, who has been granted a lease or a licence or entered into a
contract or otherwise received any right or interest either in whole or in
part in any parking lot or toll plaza or mine or quarry, from the licensor
or lessor for the use of parking lot or toll plaza or mine or quarry for the
purposes of business;
( 22) “licensor or lessor” means any person who grants a lease or a licence or
enters into a contract or otherwise transfers any right or interest either
in whole or in part in any parking lot or toll plaza or mine or quarry, to
another person, other than a public sector company for the use of such
parking lot or toll plaza or mine or quarry for the purposes of business;
( 23) “non-resident Indian” shall have the meaning assigned to it in section
212(d);
( 24) “Offshore Banking Unit” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it
in section 2(u) of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 (28 of 2005);
( 25) “online gaming intermediary” means an intermediary who offers one or
more online games;
( 26) “overseas tour programme package” means any tour package which offers
visit to any country or territory outside India and includes expenses for
travel or hotel stay or boarding or lodging or any other expenditure of
similar nature or in relation thereto;
(27) “person responsible for paying” means—
( a) in the case of payments of income chargeable under the head
“Salaries”, other than payments by the Central Government or the
State Government—
( i) the employer himself; or
( ii) if the employer is a company, the company itself, including
the principal officer thereof;
( b) in the case of payments of income chargeable under the head
“Interest on securities”, other than payments made by or on behalf
of the Central Government or State Government, local authority,
corporation or company, including the principal officer thereof;
( c) in the case of any sum payable to a non-resident Indian, being
any sum representing consideration for the transfer by him of any
foreign exchange asset, which is not a short-term capital asset,
the 95[authorised person, referred in clause ( c) of section 2 of the
Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999), responsible]—
( i) for remitting such sum to the non-resident Indian; or
95. Substituted for “authorised person responsible” by the Finance Act, 2026, w.e.f. 1-4-2026.
( ii) for crediting such sum to his Non-resident (External) Account
maintained as per the provisions of the Foreign Exchange
Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999), and any rules made
thereunder;
( d) in the case of furnishing of information relating to payment to a
non-resident, not being a company, or to a foreign company, of any
sum, whether or not chargeable under the provisions of this Act—
( i) the payer himself; or
( ii) if the payer is a company, the company itself including the
principal officer thereof;
( e) in the case of credit, or, as the case may be, payment of any other
sum chargeable under the provisions of this Act—
( i) the payer himself; or
( ii) if the payer is a company, the company itself including the
principal officer thereof;
( f) in the case of credit, or as the case may be, payment of any sum
chargeable under the provisions of this Act made by or on behalf
of the Central Government or the State Government—
( i) the drawing and disbursing officer; or
( ii) any other person, by whatever name called,
responsible for crediting, or paying such sum;
( g) in the case of a person not resident in India—
( i) the person himself; or
( ii) any person authorised by such person; or
( iii) the agent of such person in India including any person treated
as an agent under section 306;
( 28) “professional services” means services rendered by a person in the course
of carrying on legal, medical, engineering or architectural profession
or the profession of accountancy or technical consultancy or interior
decoration or advertising or such other profession as may be notified
by the Board for the purposes of this section, or of section 62;
( 29) “rent” means any payment, by whatever name called, under any lease,
sub-lease, tenancy or any other agreement or arrangement for the use
of (either separately or together) any—
( a) land; or
( b) building (including factory building); or
( c) land appurtenant to a building (including factory building); or
( d) machinery; or
( e) plant; or
( f) equipment; or
( g) furniture; or
( h) fittings,
whether or not any or all of the above are owned by the payee, and for
the purposes of section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 2( i)], only the payment
with reference to assets mentioned in sub-clauses ( a), (b) and (c) shall
be treated as rent;
( 30) “royalty” shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 9(6)(b);
( 31) “scrap” means waste and scrap from the manufacture or mechanical
working of materials which is definitely not usable as such because of
breakage, cutting up, wear and other reasons;
( 32) “securities” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in section 2(h)
of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956);
( 33) “seller” means—
( a) for the purposes of section 394(1) (Table: Sl. Nos. 1 to 6),—
( i) the Central Government; or
( ii) a State Government; or
( iii) any local authority or corporation or authority established by
or under a Central Act or State Act or Provincial Act; or
( iv) any company or firm or co-operative society; or
( v) an individual or a Hindu undivided family, whose total sales,
gross receipts or turnover from the business or profession
carried on by him exceed one crore rupees in case of business
or fifty lakh rupees in case of profession during the tax year
immediately preceding the tax year in which the goods of the
nature specified in such serial numbers are sold;
( b) for the purposes of section 394(1) (Table: Sl. No. 8), a person who
sells overseas tour program package;
( 34) “services” for the purposes of section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 8(v)], includes
“fees for technical services” and fees for “professional services”, as defined
in this section;
( 35) “specified bank” means a banking company as the Central Government
may, by notification, specify;
( 36) “specified company” means for the purposes of section 393(1) [Table:
Sl. No. 4( i)] and 393(2) (Table: Sl. No. 10), a company as referred to
in section 2(h) of the Unit Trust of India (Transfer of Undertaking and
Repeal) Act, 2002 (58 of 2002);
( 37) “specified person” means—
( a) any person, not being an individual or Hindu undivided family; or
( b) an individual or a Hindu undivided family, whose total sales, gross
receipts or turnover from the business or profession carried on by
him exceed one crore rupees in case of business or fifty lakh rupees
in case of profession during the tax year immediately preceding the
tax year in which such income or sum is credited or paid;
( 38) “special purpose vehicle” shall have the meaning in Schedule V (Note 2);
( 39) “specified senior citizen” means an individual, being a resident in India—
( a) who is of the age of seventy-five years or more at any time during
the tax year;
( b) who is having pension income and no other income except the in-
terest received or receivable from any account maintained by such
individual in the same specified bank in which he is receiving his
pension income; and
( c) has furnished a declaration to the specified bank containing
particulars, in such form and verified in such manner as may be
prescribed;
( 40) “specified undertaking” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it
in section 2(i) of the Unit Trust of India (Transfer of Undertaking and
Repeal) Act, 2002 (58 of 2022);
( 41) “time deposits” means deposits (including recurring deposits) repayable
on the expiry of fixed periods;
( 42) “unit” for the purposes of section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 4(iii)] and section
393(2) (Table: Sl. No. 8) shall have the meaning assigned to it in section
224(10)(c);
( 43) “Unit Trust of India” means the Unit Trust of India as referred to in
the Unit Trust of India (Transfer of Undertaking and Repeal) Act, 2002
(58 of 2002);
( 44) “University”, referred in section 392(4), means a University established
or incorporated by or under a Central, State or Provincial Act, and in -
cludes an institution declared under section 3 of the University Grants
Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956), to be a University for the purposes
of that Act;
( 45) “user” means any person who accesses or avails any computer resource
of an online gaming intermediary;
( 46) “user account” means account of a user registered with an online gaming
intermediary;
( 47) “work” shall include—
( a) advertising;
( b) broadcasting and telecasting including production of programmes
for such broadcasting or telecasting;
( c) carriage of goods or passengers by any mode of transport other
than by railways;
( d) catering;
( e) manufacturing or supplying a product according to the requirement
or specification of a customer by using material purchased from—
( i) such customer; or
( ii) its associate, being a person placed similarly in relation to such
customer as is the person placed in relation to the assessee
under the provisions contained in section 36(3),
but does not include—
( A) manufacturing or supplying a product according to the
requirement or specification of a customer by using material
purchased from a person, other than such customer or asso-
ciate of such customer; or
( B) any sum referred to in section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 6(iii)3].
96[(f) supply of manpower to a person to work under his supervision,
control or direction.]
C.—Advance payment of tax