Section 80QQA — Author Royalty (Legacy)

STATUTORY ARCHITECTURE — 18-ROW MAP

Statutory text — Income-tax Act, 1961

Deduction in respect of professional income of authors of text books in Indian languages.

80QQA. (1) Where, in the case of an individual resident in India, being an author, the gross total income of

the previous year relevant to the assessment year commencing on—

(a) the 1st day of April, 1980, or to any one of the nine assessment years next following that

assessment year; or

(b) the 1st day of April, 1992, or to any one of the four assessment years next following that

assessment year,

includes any income derived by him in the exercise of his profession on account of any lump sum

consideration for the assignment or grant of any of his interests in the copyright of any book, or of royalties

or copyright fees (whether receivable in lump sum or otherwise) in respect of such book, there shall, in

accordance with and subject to the provisions of this section, be allowed, in computing the total income of

the assessee, a deduction from such income of an amount equal to twenty-five per cent thereof.

(2) No deduction under sub-section (1) shall be allowed unless—

(a) the book is either in the nature of a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopaedia or is one that has been

prescribed or recommended as a text book, or included in the curriculum, by any University, for a

degree or post-graduate course of that University; and

(b) the book is written in any language specified in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or in any

such other language as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify

in this behalf having regard to the need for promotion of publication of books of the nature referred

to in clause (a) in that language and other relevant factors.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—

(i) "author" includes a joint author;

(ii) "lump sum", in regard to royalties or copyright fees, includes an advance payment on account of

such royalties or copyright fees which is not returnable;

(iii) "University" shall have the same meaning as in the Explanation to clause (ix) of section 47.

Function in the statutory architecture

Section 80QQA allowed an individual resident in India, being an author (including a joint author), a deduction of twenty-five per cent of income derived in the exercise of his profession from a lump sum for assigning or granting his copyright in a book, or from royalties or copyright fees for the book.

It applied only for assessment years 1980-81 to 1989-90 (the 1980 year and the nine following) and 1992-93 to 1996-97 (the 1992 year and the four following). The book had to be a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopaedia, or a book prescribed or recommended as a text book, or included in the curriculum, by a University for a degree or post-graduate course; and it had to be written in a language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or another language notified by the Central Government.

Operative consequences

Both conditions on the book (its nature and its language) had to be met before any deduction was allowed (sub-section (2)).
"Lump sum" included a non-returnable advance on account of royalties or copyright fees.
No deduction is available for any assessment year after 1996-97.

Status

Not operative for assessment year 2026-27: both windows in sub-section (1) have closed. The Finance Act, 2026 does not amend this section.

The 1961 Act governs assessment year 2026-27 and earlier years; the Income-tax Act, 2025 governs tax year 2026-27 onwards, and for this subject the 2025 Act has no corresponding provision. Under s. 536(2) of the 2025 Act, the repeal does not affect the previous operation of the 1961 Act or anything duly done under it.

Case Laws & Commentary

SECTION 80QQA — DEDUCTION IN RESPECT OF PROFESSIONAL INCOME OF AUTHORS OF TEXT BOOKS IN INDIAN LANGUAGES

Case Laws & Commentary (Income-tax Act, 1961 as amended by Finance Act, 2026)

STATUTORY SCHEME (editorial summary)

Marginal heading: Deduction in respect of professional income of authors of text books in Indian languages.

Section 80QQA allowed an individual resident in India, being an author, a deduction of 25 per cent of the income derived in the exercise of his profession by way of lump-sum consideration for the assignment or grant of copyright, or royalties or copyright fees, in respect of a book that is a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopaedia or a text book prescribed, recommended or included in the curriculum by a University, written in a language specified in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or a language notified by the Central Government, for the qualifying years (assessment years 1980-81 to 1989-90 and 1992-93 to 1996-97). It is spent.

A. SECTION COMMENTARY

A.1 Structural position

Section 80QQA was an authorship incentive for writers of dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopaedias and university text books in Eighth Schedule or notified languages. It is spent.

A.2 Provision taxonomy

A flat 25-per-cent deduction on the copyright and royalty income of an author of a dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopaedia or university text book in an Eighth Schedule or notified language, for the qualifying years.

A.3 Core doctrinal themes

The scope of 'author' and of a qualifying book, and the language and University-prescription conditions; the window has lapsed and reported litigation is limited.

A.4 Legislative evolution / FA amendment trail

Inserted by the Finance Act, 1979 for the qualifying years; spent. The current authorship incentive is section 80QQB. Not amended by the Finance Act, 2026.

A.5 CA practitioner pointers

(1) No fresh claim under this section; current authors look to section 80QQB. (2) Relevant only for legacy assessments.

B. FA 2026 IMPACT NOTE

Section 80QQA is NOT amended by the Finance Act, 2026 and is spent; the current authorship incentive is section 80QQB.

C. CASE LAW — CLUSTERED BY ISSUE

Cluster C-1 : Spent authorship incentive

Note on section 80QQA

Facts: The deduction applied to the qualifying years for academic-textbook authors.

Issue: Whether any current claim survives.

Held: None; superseded by section 80QQB for current authors.

Ratio: A spent authorship incentive.

Relevance: Recorded for completeness; reported authority is limited.

← ITA 1961 hub

Income-tax Act, 1961	Income-tax Act, 2025
s. 80QQA — deduction of twenty-five per cent of an author's income from text books and reference works in Indian languages	No corresponding provision in the Income-tax Act, 2025; the surviving authors' deduction is s. 151 (counterpart of s. 80QQB)