Section 169 — Right of Executor to Recover Tax Paid
Case Laws & Commentary · Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) · bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Live. Part E of Chapter XV. Indemnity provision for executors.
Subject: The provisions of section 162 (a representative assessee's right to recover/retain tax paid) apply, so far as may be, in the case of an executor in respect of tax paid or payable by him.
Finance Act, 2026: No change. Chapter XV is untouched by the Finance Act, 2026; the section stands as amended up to the Finance Act, 2025.
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
1. The executor's indemnity
Section 169 gives the executor the same protection that section 162 gives a representative assessee. Having been assessed and made liable, under section 168, on the income of the estate, the executor is entitled — by the application of section 162 'so far as may be' — to recover the tax so paid out of the estate, or to retain an equivalent sum out of moneys of the estate in his hands, pending final settlement with the beneficiaries. It is the recovery/indemnity counterpart of the executor's charge under section 168, mirroring the representative assessee's position under sections 161 and 162.
2. No direct authority
Section 169 has generated no reported litigation; it is a short, self-operating indemnity clause that simply borrows section 162. Any dispute in this space would turn on the section 162 retention/indemnity principle, which section 169 imports, rather than on section 169 standing alone. No direct section 169 authority is asserted (candour rule).
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
The text of the section, as it stands in the Act (FA-2025 base), is set out below.
169. The provisions of section 162 shall, so far as may be, apply in the case of an executor in respect of tax paid or payable by him as they apply in the case of a representative assessee.
C. AUTHORITIES
Candour rule. No reported decision construes section 169; it applies section 162 to executors. The cognate authority is the representative-assessee indemnity scheme (sections 161/162), set out under those sections.
Cluster A — Cognate authority
Cited as cognate only: the representative-assessee scheme described in CIT v. Kamalini Khatau (209 ITR 101 SC) and WABCO India Ltd. v. DCIT (407 ITR 317 Mad), set out under sections 161, 162 and 166; and the executor's charge under section 168 (Navnit Lal Sakarlal 193 ITR 16 SC).
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text is reproduced from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (text as printed in the local Act, base text amended up to the Finance Act, 2025), with the publisher's footnote apparatus and amendment-marker brackets removed; three asterisks (***) denote words or a provision omitted by amendment and retained only to mark the omission. The Finance Act, 2026 amends no section of Chapter XV of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (its Part-A amendments touch ss.92CA, 139, 140B, 144B, 144C, 147A, 148, 150, 153, 153B, 220, 222, 234, 245, 245MA, 254 and 270A-276 only). Citations are stated as reported; orders of the Tribunal and High Courts are flagged as such. Where a section has not been judicially construed, that is stated candidly and the nearest governing authority is given. This material is for professional reference and is not legal advice.
CHAPTER XV — LIABILITY IN SPECIAL CASES
Section 169 — Right of Executor to Recover Tax Paid
Case Laws & Commentary · Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) · bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Live. Part E of Chapter XV. Indemnity provision for executors.
Subject: The provisions of section 162 (a representative assessee's right to recover/retain tax paid) apply, so far as may be, in the case of an executor in respect of tax paid or payable by him.
Finance Act, 2026: No change. Chapter XV is untouched by the Finance Act, 2026; the section stands as amended up to the Finance Act, 2025.
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
1. The executor's indemnity
Section 169 gives the executor the same protection that section 162 gives a representative assessee. Having been assessed and made liable, under section 168, on the income of the estate, the executor is entitled — by the application of section 162 'so far as may be' — to recover the tax so paid out of the estate, or to retain an equivalent sum out of moneys of the estate in his hands, pending final settlement with the beneficiaries. It is the recovery/indemnity counterpart of the executor's charge under section 168, mirroring the representative assessee's position under sections 161 and 162.
2. No direct authority
Section 169 has generated no reported litigation; it is a short, self-operating indemnity clause that simply borrows section 162. Any dispute in this space would turn on the section 162 retention/indemnity principle, which section 169 imports, rather than on section 169 standing alone. No direct section 169 authority is asserted (candour rule).
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
The text of the section, as it stands in the Act (FA-2025 base), is set out below.
169. The provisions of section 162 shall, so far as may be, apply in the case of an executor in respect of tax paid or payable by him as they apply in the case of a representative assessee.
C. AUTHORITIES
Candour rule. No reported decision construes section 169; it applies section 162 to executors. The cognate authority is the representative-assessee indemnity scheme (sections 161/162), set out under those sections.
Cluster A — Cognate authority
Cited as cognate only: the representative-assessee scheme described in CIT v. Kamalini Khatau (209 ITR 101 SC) and WABCO India Ltd. v. DCIT (407 ITR 317 Mad), set out under sections 161, 162 and 166; and the executor's charge under section 168 (Navnit Lal Sakarlal 193 ITR 16 SC).
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text is reproduced from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (text as printed in the local Act, base text amended up to the Finance Act, 2025), with the publisher's footnote apparatus and amendment-marker brackets removed; three asterisks (***) denote words or a provision omitted by amendment and retained only to mark the omission. The Finance Act, 2026 amends no section of Chapter XV of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (its Part-A amendments touch ss.92CA, 139, 140B, 144B, 144C, 147A, 148, 150, 153, 153B, 220, 222, 234, 245, 245MA, 254 and 270A-276 only). Citations are stated as reported; orders of the Tribunal and High Courts are flagged as such. Where a section has not been judicially construed, that is stated candidly and the nearest governing authority is given. This material is for professional reference and is not legal advice.