The section is a single Table matching each class of person furnishing a return of income under section 263 in column B with the person who must verify that return in column C. An individual verifies himself; where he is mentally incapacitated from attending to his affairs, his guardian or any other person competent to act on his behalf verifies; and where for any other reason he cannot verify, a person duly authorised by him through a valid power of attorney does. A Hindu undivided family's return is verified by the karta, or, where the karta is absent from India or mentally incapacitated, by any other adult member of the family.
For companies the Table splits into five entries. An ordinary company is verified by its managing director, or, where there is no managing director or he is unable to verify due to any unavoidable reason, by any director or any other prescribed person. A company not resident in India is verified by any person holding a valid power of attorney from the company. A company being wound up by orders of the Court or otherwise, or where a receiver of any of its assets has been appointed, is verified by the liquidator as referred to in section 322(1). A company whose management has been taken over by the Central Government or a State Government under any law is verified by its principal officer. A company for which an application seeking corporate insolvency resolution has been admitted by the Adjudicating Authority under section 7, 9 or 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is verified by the insolvency professional appointed by that Authority, the two terms carrying the meanings in sections 3(19) and 5(1) of that Code.
A firm is verified by the managing partner, or, where he cannot verify for an unavoidable reason or there is no managing partner, by any partner who is not a minor. A limited liability partnership is verified by the designated partner, or, where he cannot verify for an unavoidable reason or there is none, by any partner or any other prescribed person. A local authority is verified by its principal officer, and a political party referred to in section 263(1)(a)(iii) by its chief executive officer, whatever his designation. Any other association is verified by any member or by the principal officer, and any other person by himself or by any person competent to act on his behalf.
Why it is there
A return is a verified statement, and the verification is what fixes responsibility for its contents on a named human being. The Table exists because the person who can lawfully speak for an assessee changes with its form and its circumstances — a company in liquidation, a company in insolvency resolution and a company under Government management each have a different mouth — and a return verified by the wrong person is not properly verified at all.
Who it applies to
An individual, and his guardian or other person competent to act where he is mentally incapacitated
A person holding a valid power of attorney from an individual who cannot verify for any other reason, or from a non-resident company
The karta of a Hindu undivided family, or any other adult member where the karta is absent from India or mentally incapacitated
The managing director of a company, or any director or other prescribed person where there is none or he cannot verify for an unavoidable reason
The liquidator referred to in section 322(1), for a company being wound up or where a receiver of assets has been appointed
The principal officer of a company whose management has been taken over by the Central or a State Government, and of a local authority
The insolvency professional appointed by the Adjudicating Authority, for a company admitted to corporate insolvency resolution
The managing partner of a firm, or any partner not being a minor
The designated partner of a limited liability partnership, or any partner or other prescribed person
The chief executive officer of a political party referred to in section 263(1)(a)(iii)
Any member or the principal officer of any other association, and any other person or one competent to act on his behalf
What this means in practice
Most of the fallbacks are conditional, not alternative. For a company, a director other than the managing director can verify only where there is no managing director or the managing director is unable to verify due to an unavoidable reason; for a firm, a partner other than the managing partner only in the same circumstances, and that partner must not be a minor. The circumstances of the assessee displace the ordinary signatory entirely: once a company is being wound up or a receiver of its assets is appointed, verification belongs to the liquidator referred to in section 322(1), and once an application for corporate insolvency resolution has been admitted under section 7, 9 or 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, it belongs to the insolvency professional appointed by the Adjudicating Authority, not to the directors. A non-resident company is dealt with only through a valid power of attorney, and for an individual the power of attorney route opens only where the individual cannot verify for a reason other than mental incapacity — mental incapacity is handled by the guardian limb instead.
An example
Illustrative only, and invented for this page. The figures are chosen to show the rule biting, not taken from any real matter.
A company files its return while an application seeking its corporate insolvency resolution has been admitted by the Adjudicating Authority. Entry 7 of the Table places the verification on the insolvency professional appointed by that Authority, so a return verified by the erstwhile managing director is not verified by the person the section names. In a simpler case, a firm whose managing partner is abroad and unreachable may have its return verified by any other partner under entry 8(ii), provided that partner is not a minor.
Where you meet this section
You meet this at the verification page of every return of income furnished under section 263 — it decides whose name and capacity go there. It resurfaces when the Department questions whether a return was verified by a competent person, most often for a company in liquidation or insolvency resolution, or where a power of attorney holder signed for an individual or a non-resident company.
The words themselves
where there is no managing director, or the managing director is not able to verify the return due to any unavoidable reason, by any director of the company or any other person as may be prescribed for verifying the return.
Section 265, Table Sl. No. 3(ii), Income-tax Act, 2025.
By the liquidator as referred to in section 322(1).
Section 265, Table Sl. No. 5, Income-tax Act, 2025.
By the insolvency professional appointed by such Adjudicating Authority
Section 265, Table Sl. No. 7, Income-tax Act, 2025.
by any partner of the firm, not being a minor.
Section 265, Table Sl. No. 8(ii), Income-tax Act, 2025.
What people get wrong
Letting any director verify a company's return. Entry 3 allows a director other than the managing director only where there is no managing director or he cannot verify due to an unavoidable reason.
Continuing to verify through the managing director after insolvency admission. Entry 7 gives verification to the insolvency professional appointed by the Adjudicating Authority once an application under section 7, 9 or 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 has been admitted.
Having a director verify for a company in liquidation. Entry 5 gives it to the liquidator as referred to in section 322(1), and applies equally where a receiver of any assets has been appointed.
Allowing a minor partner to verify a firm's return. Entry 8(ii) excludes a minor.
Using a power of attorney for an individual who is mentally incapacitated. Entry 1(ii) routes that case to the guardian or another person competent to act on his behalf; the power of attorney limb in 1(iii) is for any other reason.
Treating a designated partner as interchangeable with any partner of a limited liability partnership. Entry 9 puts the designated partner first and admits another partner or a prescribed person only where he cannot verify for an unavoidable reason or there is no designated partner.
What this replaced
The correspondence is the Income Tax Department’s own, from its comparison utility for the 1961 and 2025 Acts. A renumbering is the easy half; whether the words changed is the half that decides cases.
Rules of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 that work section 265. Where the rule’s own heading names the section we say so; the rest are marked on reading the rule, which is our derivation and not the department’s. A rule that serves the section silently and that we have missed will not appear here.
Rule 31 — Furnishing of statement of particulars in respect of donation and certificate to donor under section 45(4)(a) — on reading the rule
Rule 32 — Procedure, form and manner in respect of approval under section 45(4) read with section 45(3)(a) for deduction for expenditure on scientific research by a research association — on reading the rule
Rule 35 — Prescribed authority, procedure, form, manner and conditions for approval by a company for deduction for expenditure on scientific research under section 45(3)(b) — on reading the rule
Rule 91 — Procedure relating to transactions of provision of information technology services — on reading the rule
Rule 98 — Procedure governing safe harbour rules for specified domestic transactions — on reading the rule
Rule 101 — Procedure governing safe harbour rules for income attribution in case of income from business and profession — on reading the rule
Rule 118 — Relief in tax payable under section 206(1) due to operation of section 206(1)(i) — on reading the rule
Rule 167 — Form of appeal to Joint Commissioner (Appeals) or Commissioner (Appeals) under section 358 — on reading the rule
Rule 168 — Prescribed person for verification of return for purposes of section 265 [Table: Sl. Nos. 3 and 9]
Rule 181 — Common application for registration of non-profit organisation or for approval for the purposes of deduction under section 133(1)(b)(ii) — on reading the rule
Rule 186 — Application under section 342(5) for change of purpose for which income has been accumulated or set apart — on reading the rule
Rule 283 — Computation of minimum investment and exempt income for purposes of Schedule V [Table: Sl. No. 7] to Act — on reading the rule
A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. Every one below was written under the 1961 Act; it reaches this section because the department’s own concordance carries the provision it names to this one.
Circular No. 767 — Submission of No Objection Certificate in case of remittance to a non-resident 1998-05-22
A notification is made under a power the Act gives and, within that power, is law. These too were made under the 1961 Act and are placed here by the department’s concordance.
Read this before you rely on it. Every decision below was decided under the Income-tax Act, 1961. It appears here because it is tagged to a 1961 provision that the department’s own mapping carries to section 265. That is an inference we have drawn, not a holding on the new section: where the words changed in the move, the reasoning may not survive. Treat this as the place to start looking, not as authority on the 2025 Act.
Vipul Aggarwal v ITOHigh CourtHelps taxpayertagged s.140 The sanction for prosecution names the company as the assessee. Can the complaint proceed against me as its director?
What this page does not tell you. It does not reproduce the section. Everything above was written from the section’s own text as the Income Tax Department publishes it — the text is here, and nothing here is advice on your facts. Where a figure matters, read the sub-section it comes from.
