Meaning of “Any other person”

The meaning of any other person under section 269SS of the Income Tax Act is not defined in the act itself. But we can take guidance from decisions by various high courts. Here are excerpts of courts orders in which the Hon’ble Income Tax Appellate Tribunal tried to explain the meaning of any other person.

Meaning of any other person defined by court

The phrase ‘any other person’ used in section 269SS of the Income Tax Act came up before hon’ble ITAT-Hyderabad in Dillu Cine Enterprises (P.) Ltd. vs. Addl. CIT [2002] 80 ITD 484 (Hyd. – Trib.) and it explained.

Meaning : The words ‘any other person’ in section 269ss do not denote the director of the company. The term ‘any other person’ in the context of introduction of this section means persons who are not very intimately or very closely connected to the assessee.

Section 269SS of the Income Tax Act

Mode of taking or accepting certain loans, deposits and specified sum.

269SS. No person shall take or accept from any other person (herein referred to as the depositor), any loan or deposit or any specified sum, otherwise than by an account payee cheque or account payee bank draft or use of electronic clearing system through a bank account 82[or through such other electronic mode as may be prescribed83], if,—

(a) the amount of such loan or deposit or specified sum or the aggregate amount of such loan, deposit and specified sum; or

(b) on the date of taking or accepting such loan or deposit or specified sum, any loan or deposit or specified sum taken or accepted earlier by such person from the depositor is remaining unpaid (whether repayment has fallen due or not), the amount or the aggregate amount remaining unpaid; or

(c) the amount or the aggregate amount referred to in clause (a) together with the amount or the aggregate amount referred to in clause (b),

is twenty thousand rupees or more:

Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any loan or deposit or specified sum taken or accepted from, or any loan or deposit or specified sum taken or accepted by,—

(a) the Government;

(b) any banking company, post office savings bank or co-operative bank;

(c) any corporation established by a Central, State or Provincial Act;

(d) any Government company as defined in clause (45) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013);

(e) such other institution, association or body or class of institutions, associations or bodies which the Central Government may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, notify in this behalf in the Official Gazette:

Provided further that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any loan or deposit or specified sum, where the person from whom the loan or deposit or specified sum is taken or accepted and the person by whom the loan or deposit or specified sum is taken or accepted, are both having agricultural income and neither of them has any income chargeable to tax under this Act.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—

(i) “banking company” means a company to which the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949) applies and includes any bank or banking institution referred to in section 51 of that Act;

(ii) “co-operative bank” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in Part V of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949) ;

(iii) “loan or deposit” means loan or deposit of money;

(iv) “specified sum” means any sum of money receivable, whether as advance or otherwise, in relation to transfer of an immovable property, whether or not the transfer takes place.

In this article, you can get guidance from high courts on the meaning of any other person under section 269SS of the Income Tax Act.

Updated up to Finance Act 2021