Section 482 — False statement in verification, etc. Successor to s.277 of the 1961 Act.
Section 482 is in Chapter XXII — Offences and Prosecutions, which runs from section 473 to section 498.
The section punishes a person who makes a statement in any verification under the Act or any rule made under it, or delivers an account or statement which is false, and which he either knows or believes to be false, or does not believe to be true.
Clauses (a), (b) and (c) — substituted for the earlier clauses (a) and (b) by Act No. 4 of 2026 with effect from 1 April 2026 — graduate the punishment by the amount of tax which would have been evaded if the statement or account had been accepted as true. Where that exceeds fifty lakh rupees: simple imprisonment for a term up to two years, or fine, or both. Where it exceeds ten lakh rupees but does not exceed fifty lakh rupees: simple imprisonment for a term up to six months, or fine, or both. In any other case: fine.
The pre-substitution clauses provided rigorous imprisonment of not less than six months and up to seven years with fine where the tax exceeded twenty-five lakh rupees, and rigorous imprisonment of not less than three months and up to two years with fine in any other case; neither survives.
Every return, form and statement under the Act rests on a verification, and the system works only if that verification carries weight. The section attaches criminal consequences to a verification made without belief in its truth and scales them to what was at stake. The 2026 substitution changes the shape of the offence — simple imprisonment subject only to a maximum in place of rigorous imprisonment with mandatory minimums, fine alone available at every level, and a two-tier structure at ten and fifty lakh rupees in place of the single twenty-five lakh line.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Punishment where the tax that would have been evaded exceeds fifty lakh rupees | Simple imprisonment for a term up to two years, or fine, or both | Measured by the tax which would have been evaded if the statement or account had been accepted as true | Clause (a), as substituted by Act No. 4 of 2026 w.e.f. 1-4-2026 |
| Punishment where that tax exceeds ten lakh but not fifty lakh rupees | Simple imprisonment for a term up to six months, or fine, or both | Same measure | Clause (b), as substituted by Act No. 4 of 2026 w.e.f. 1-4-2026 |
| Punishment in any other case | Fine | Where the tax that would have been evaded does not exceed ten lakh rupees | Clause (c), as substituted by Act No. 4 of 2026 w.e.f. 1-4-2026 |
The mental element is wider than knowledge — it is enough that the person believed the statement to be false, or did not believe it to be true, so a verification signed without any basis for believing it is within the section. The measure of seriousness is hypothetical: the tax which would have been evaded had the statement been accepted as true, not the tax finally found due. Under the substituted clauses there is no minimum term anywhere, imprisonment is simple rather than rigorous, and clauses (a) and (b) each allow imprisonment, or fine, or both.
An individual signs a verification supporting a claim he does not believe to be true; had it been accepted, tax of Rs 70 lakh would have escaped. Clause (a) applies — simple imprisonment for up to two years, or fine, or both. Had the tax at stake been Rs 20 lakh, clause (b) would apply and the maximum term would fall to six months; below ten lakh rupees, clause (c) leaves only a fine.
In a criminal complaint filed before a court, usually after assessment or penalty proceedings have established the false claim. Every return and prescribed form carries a verification, and it is the signing of that verification, or the delivery of a false account or statement, that brings the section into play.
which he either knows or believes to be false, or does not believe to be true
with simple imprisonment for a term up to two years, or with fine, or with both, where the amount of tax, which would have been evaded if the statement or account had been accepted as true, exceeds fifty lakh rupees
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.