Rule 70 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026

Where this rule sits

Rule 70 gives effect to Section 151 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.

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What this rule does

Sub-rule (1) requires that, for the purposes of a claim of deduction under section 151, the assessee furnish a certificate in Form No. 36 along with the return of income.

Sub-rule (2) fixes who verifies it: the person responsible for making the payment to the assessee shall verify the certificate in Form No. 36.

The rule prescribes a form and a verifier. It states no threshold, no time limit of its own beyond the filing of the return, and no consequence for the deduction.

Why it is there

Section 151 allows the deduction and section 151(5) leaves the proof of it to be prescribed. A deduction of this kind turns on facts held by the payer rather than by the claimant, so the rule requires the payer's certificate and requires the payer, not the assessee, to verify it. Attaching it to the return puts that evidence before the Assessing Officer at the time the claim is made rather than when it is questioned.

Who it applies to

• An assessee claiming a deduction under section 151
• The person responsible for making the payment to the assessee, who verifies the certificate

The figures, and what each one turns on

The forms it prescribes

• Form No. 36 — certificate to be furnished for a claim of deduction under section 151, verified by the person responsible for making the payment

What this means in practice

The obligation is on the assessee to furnish, but the certificate is not the assessee's own document: sub-rule (2) puts verification on the person responsible for making the payment, so the claimant must obtain it from the payer before the return goes in. "Along with the return of income" is the time fixed, so a certificate produced later in an assessment is not what sub-rule (1) asks for. The rule prescribes only the form and its verification; the conditions of the deduction and the amount allowable are matters for section 151, and nothing in the rule enlarges or reduces them.

Where you meet this rule

An assessee meets it once a year, when asking the payer for the Form No. 36 certificate and filing it with the return that carries the section 151 claim.

The words themselves

What people get wrong

• Self-certifying the Form No. 36. Sub-rule (2) requires the person responsible for making the payment to verify it.
• Keeping the certificate on file and producing it if asked. Sub-rule (1) requires it to be furnished along with the return of income.
• Reading the rule as the source of the deduction. It prescribes the certificate; the deduction and its conditions are in section 151.