CBDT circular 8 March 1994
Circular No. 681
[Withdrawn by Circular No. 681, Dated 8-3-1994]
What this is
Circular No. 681 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 8 March 1994. Its subject is [Withdrawn by Circular No. 681, Dated 8-3-1994].
This is a clarification. The Board is stating how it reads a provision. That reading binds the department; it does not bind a court, and where the section says otherwise the section wins.
What it does
The text supplied under this record is not Circular No. 681 at all but the entry for Circular No. 93, F. No. 275/100/72-ITJ, dated 26-9-1972, which gave clarifications on several points arising out of the scheme of deduction of tax at source under section 194C from payments to contractors and sub-contractors, printed at page 337 of the Board's Bulletin XVIII/I/196. The heading records that the 1972 circular was withdrawn by Circular No. 681, dated 8-3-1994. Written from the text as supplied, the entry carries no operative content of its own beyond that reference.
Why it was issued
Points had arisen on the working of the deduction scheme for payments to contractors and sub-contractors, and the Board answered them in the 1972 circular the entry describes.
Who it reaches
- Persons making payments to contractors and sub-contractors
- Contractors and sub-contractors bearing deduction under section 194C
- Assessing Officers tracing the Board's guidance on section 194C
The provisions it speaks to
Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.
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.
[WITHDRAWN BY CIRCULAR NO. 681, DATED 8-3-1994]
Deduction of Income-tax at Source—Section 194C of the Income-tax Act, 1961—Deduction from Payments to Contractors—Instructions Regarding—
(Circular No. 93—F. No. 275/100/72-ITJ, dated 26-9-72 from CBDT—CBDT Bulletin XVIII/I/196 page 337.)
Clarification on several points arising out of the scheme of tax deduction at source from payments made to contractors and sub-contractors in certain cases have been given in this circular and printed in the bulletin.
(Circular No. 93—F. No. 275/100/72-ITJ, dated 26-9-72 from CBDT—CBDT Bulletin XVIII/I/196 page 337.)
What to watch
- The record is keyed to Circular No. 681, dated 8-3-1994, but the text is the entry for Circular No. 93, dated 26-9-1972; this note is written from the text.
- The text carries no substance of the clarifications, only the Bulletin reference where they were printed.
- On the record's own heading, the 1972 circular no longer stands, having been withdrawn by Circular No. 681.
- Section 194C has been amended repeatedly since in terms this text does not carry.
Where you meet it
Only in tracing the history of the Board's guidance on section 194C deductions from contractors.
On the same provision
Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.
- Circular No. 09/2012 — Section 194C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deduction of TAX at Source - Payments to Contractors & Sub-contractors - Dedu 17 October 2012
- Circular No. 13/2006 — Dated 13/12/2006 13 December 2006
- Circular No. 6/2006 — TAX Deduction at Source - Issue of TDS Certificate under section 203 of the Income-tax Act - Cases of Truck/goods-carria 23 June 2006
- Notification No. 163 — Rules/amendment Rules 17 June 2005
- Circular No. 5/2002 — 1126. Clarifications on various provisions relating to tax deduction at source regarding changes introduced through Fina 30 July 2002
- Circular No. 787 — 227. Guidelines regarding taxation of income of artists, entertainers, sportsmen, etc., from international/national/ loc 10 February 2000
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.