Circular No. 257

1749. Instructions for deduction of tax at source from winnings from lottery or crossword puzzle during financial year 1980-81 at the rates specified in Part II of First Schedule to Finance Act, 1980

What this is

Circular No. 257 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 4 June 1979. Its subject is 1749. Instructions for deduction of tax at source from winnings from lottery or crossword puzzle during financial year 1980-81 at the rates specified in Part II of First Schedule to Finance Act, 1980.

What it does

Tells State Governments to carry on deducting tax at source from lottery and crossword puzzle winnings at the 1979-80 rates during the financial year 1980-81, because the Finance Act, 1980 prescribes the same rates as were in force in 1979-80. The instruction to be passed on to all concerned is to continue at the rates in Part II of the First Schedule to the Finance Act, 1979, following the earlier circular on deduction from winnings payable during 1979-80.

Why it was issued

The Board issues an annual instruction on these rates and had only to say that the new Finance Act made no change, so that deduction could continue without a break.

Who it reaches

State Government lottery departments and their officers
Payers of lottery and crossword puzzle winnings in 1980-81
Prize winners whose payments suffer deduction

The instrument, as the Board published it

The words below are the department’s own, reproduced from its published text. Where the department’s copy carried a publisher’s notes after the instrument, those are not reproduced.

1749. Instructions for deduction of tax at source from winnings from lottery or crossword puzzle during financial year 1980-81 at the rates specified in Part II of First Schedule to Finance Act, 1980
1. I am directed to invite a reference to this Department’s Circular No. 257 [F. No. 275/36/79-IT(B)], dated 4-6-1979, on the subject of deduction of income-tax from winnings from lottery or crossword puzzle payable during the year 1979-80.
2. The Finance Act, 1980 prescribes the same rates of tax from winnings from lottery or crossword puzzle during financial year 1980-81 as were in force during the financial year 1979-80. Necessary instructions for continuing deduction of tax at source from "winnings from lottery or crossword puzzle" at the same rates as are given in Part II of the First Schedule to the Finance Act, 1979 may please be issued to all concerned under the control of the State Government.
Circular : No. 270 [F. No. 275/17/80-IT(B)], dated 26-5-1980.

What to watch

The rates it preserves are those of the Finance Act, 1979 and speak only for the financial years 1979-80 and 1980-81.
The circular states no figures itself; the rate has to be traced back to Part II of the First Schedule to the Finance Act, 1979.
The text supplied signs off as Circular No. 270 dated 26 May 1980, which is not the number and date under which it reaches you; check the citation before relying on it.

Where you meet it

An old TDS default proceeding against a State lottery department for 1980-81, where the applicable rate has to be established from the annual circulars.

← Circular No. 258 · Circular No. 256 →

A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.