Rules 2026s.152

Rule 71 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026

Rule 71 — Prescribed authority and form of certificate to be furnished under section 152(5). Made under s.152 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.

Where this rule sits

Rule 71 gives effect to Section 152 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.

← Rule 70 · Rule 72 →

What this rule does

The rule fills in two blanks in section 152(5). Clause (a) prescribes the authority: it is the Controller referred to in section 2(1)(b) of the Patents Act, 1970. Clause (b) requires the assessee to furnish a certificate in Form No. 37 from that prescribed authority along with the return of income.

Why it is there

Section 152(5) makes the benefit depend on a certificate from a prescribed authority but does not say who that authority is or in what form the certificate comes. The rule names the Controller under the Patents Act, so the certifying is done by the office that holds the patent record, and fixes Form No. 37 and the time of filing.

Who it applies to

An assessee to whom section 152(5) applies and who must support the claim by certificate
The Controller referred to in section 2(1)(b) of the Patents Act, 1970, as the prescribed authority

The forms it prescribes

Form No. 37 - certificate from the prescribed authority to be furnished along with the return of income for the purposes of section 152(5)

What this means in practice

The certificate has to come from the Controller under the Patents Act and no other office, and clause (b) requires it to be furnished along with the return of income rather than produced later when the claim is questioned. The rule prescribes only the authority and the form; the substantive conditions of the claim remain in section 152.

Where you meet this rule

You meet it as an attachment to the return of income in a year in which the section 152(5) claim is made, and at the Controller's office when applying for the certificate.

The words themselves

the prescribed authority shall be the Controller referred to in section 2(1)(b) of the Patents Act, 1970 (39 of 1970)

Rule 71(a), Income-tax Rules, 2026.

the assessee shall be required to furnish a certificate in Form No. 37 from the prescribed authority along with the return of income

Rule 71(b), Income-tax Rules, 2026.

What people get wrong

Taking a certificate from a departmental or other authority. Clause (a) names the Controller under section 2(1)(b) of the Patents Act, 1970.
Obtaining Form No. 37 but filing it only when asked. Clause (b) requires it along with the return of income.
Reading the rule as setting the conditions of the claim. It prescribes the authority and the form; the entitlement is in section 152(5).

What this page does not tell you. It does not reproduce the rule. Everything above was written from the rule’s own text as the Income Tax Department publishes it — the text is here. A rule is subordinate legislation: it prescribes the method, the form or the period, and it cannot enlarge the charge the section imposes. Where a figure matters, read the sub-rule it comes from.