Section 159 of Income Tax Act "Legal representatives"
159. (1) Where a person dies, his legal representative
shall be liable to pay any sum which the deceased would have
been liable to pay if he had not died, in the like manner
and to the same extent as the deceased.
(2) For the purpose of making an assessment (including an
assessment, reassessment or recomputation under section 147)
of the income of the deceased and for the purpose of levying
any sum in the hands of the legal representative in
accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1),-
(a) any proceeding taken against the deceased before his
death shall be deemed to have been taken against the legal
representative and may be continued against the legal
representative from the stage at which it stood on the date
of the death of the deceased;
(b) any proceeding which could have been taken against
the deceased if he had survived, may be taken against the
legal representative; and
(c) all the provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly.
(3) The legal representative of the deceased shall, for the
purposes of this Act, be deemed to be an assessee.
(4) Every legal representative shall be personally liable
for any tax payable by him in his capacity as legal
representative if, while his liability for tax remains
undischarged, he creates a charge on or disposes of or parts
with any assets of the estate of the deceased, which are in,
or may come into, his possession, but such liability shall
be limited to the value of the asset so charged, disposed of
or parted with.
(5) The provisions of sub-section (2) of section 161,
section 162, and section 167, shall, so far as may be and to
the extent to which they are not inconsistent with the
provisions of this section, apply in relation to a legal
representative.
(6) The liability of a legal representative under this
section shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (4)
and sub-section (5), be limited to the extent to which the
estate is capable of meeting the liability.
160. (1) For the purposes of this Act, "representative
assessee" means-
(i) in respect of the income of a non-resident specified in
sub-section (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 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.