Rule 234 — Furnishing of annual statement by a non-resident having office in India. Made under s.505 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 234 gives effect to Section 505 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.
The rule prescribes the annual statement of a non-resident having a liaison office in India.
Sub-rule (1) requires the annual statement provided under section 505, for every financial year, to be furnished in Form No. 162 within eight months from the end of that financial year. Sub-rule (2) requires the statement to be furnished in electronic form along with digital signature, duly verified by the Chartered Accountant or the person authorised in this behalf by the non-resident person, who shall be known as the authorised signatory.
A liaison office earns nothing and files no ordinary return, so without this statement the Department would have no periodic account of what the non-resident does through its Indian presence. Section 505 creates the obligation and the rule supplies the three things it leaves open: the form, the period allowed, and who must authenticate it.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to furnish the annual statement | Within eight months from the end of the financial year | For every financial year, in Form No. 162 | Sub-rule (1) |
The period is measured from the end of the financial year and is eight months, so it does not track the return due date and does not move with the non-resident's own accounting year. The obligation recurs for every financial year, whether or not anything happened in the office during it. Sub-rule (2) requires more than an electronic filing: the statement must go in electronic form along with digital signature and must be duly verified, and the verification may come either from the Chartered Accountant or from the person the non-resident has authorised in this behalf, who is then the authorised signatory. A statement filed electronically but unverified, or verified by someone who has not been so authorised, does not answer the rule.
A foreign company maintains a liaison office in India that only gathers market information and remits nothing. For the financial year ending on the 31st of March, it must still furnish Form No. 162 within eight months from that date, in electronic form under digital signature, verified by its Chartered Accountant or by the person it has authorised in this behalf as authorised signatory.
The non-resident's Indian office meets it once a year, in the Form No. 162 filing eight months after the financial year ends; a customer or counterparty of the liaison office never encounters it.
The annual statement as provided under section 505 for every financial year, shall be furnished in Form No. 162 within eight months from the end of such financial year.
shall be furnished in electronic form along with digital signature, duly verified by the Chartered Accountant or the person authorised in this behalf by the non-resident person, who shall be known as the authorised signatory