Section 180 — Royalties or Copyright Fees for Literary or Artistic Work
Case Laws & Commentary · Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) · bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Live on the statute but spent. Part Q of Chapter XV (Special provisions for certain kinds of income). Inapplicable to any previous year relevant to an assessment year commencing on or after 1 April 2000.
Subject: Where the time taken by the author of a literary or artistic work in making it is more than twelve months, the lump-sum consideration for the assignment of the copyright, or of royalties/copyright fees, may, at the author's option, be spread (in the manner prescribed) over the relevant earlier years — a relief that is, by the section's own terms, inoperative from assessment year 2000-01.
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. A spreading relief, now spent
Section 180 was a spreading relief for authors. Where the making of a literary or artistic work took more than twelve months, the lump sum received for assigning the copyright (or as royalties or copyright fees) could, at the author's option, be allocated over the relevant earlier previous years in the prescribed manner, so as to mitigate the bunching of several years' effort into a single year's high-rate charge. 'Author' was defined to include a joint author, and 'lump sum' to include a non-returnable advance. By its own terms the relief does not apply to any previous year relevant to an assessment year commencing on or after 1 April 2000, and it is therefore spent for current purposes.
2. No reported jurisprudence
Section 180 has generated no reported decision construing it on the merits; the published material is statutory text and commentary only. Given that the relief is spent from assessment year 2000-01, it survives in the treatise as a matter of historical record. No 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.
180. Where the time taken by the author of a literary or artistic work in the making thereof is more than twelve months, the amount received or receivable by him during any previous year on account of any lump sum consideration for the assignment or grant of any of his interests in the copyright of that work or of royalties or copyright fees (whether receivable in lump sum or otherwise), in respect of that work, shall, if he so claims, be allocated for purposes of assessment in such manner and to such period as may be prescribed :
Provided that nothing contained in this section shall apply in relation to the previous year relevant to the assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 2000.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, the expression "author" includes a joint author, and the expression "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. Consideration for know-how.
C. AUTHORITIES
Candour rule. Section 180 is a spent spreading-relief provision (inapplicable from AY 2000-01) with no reported case law. The statutory mechanics are summarised in the commentary and verbatim text.
Cluster A — No authority
No reported decision construes section 180. The provision is spent from assessment year 2000-01 and is retained for historical completeness; no authority is invented.
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 180 — Royalties or Copyright Fees for Literary or Artistic Work
Case Laws & Commentary · Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) · bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Live on the statute but spent. Part Q of Chapter XV (Special provisions for certain kinds of income). Inapplicable to any previous year relevant to an assessment year commencing on or after 1 April 2000.
Subject: Where the time taken by the author of a literary or artistic work in making it is more than twelve months, the lump-sum consideration for the assignment of the copyright, or of royalties/copyright fees, may, at the author's option, be spread (in the manner prescribed) over the relevant earlier years — a relief that is, by the section's own terms, inoperative from assessment year 2000-01.
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. A spreading relief, now spent
Section 180 was a spreading relief for authors. Where the making of a literary or artistic work took more than twelve months, the lump sum received for assigning the copyright (or as royalties or copyright fees) could, at the author's option, be allocated over the relevant earlier previous years in the prescribed manner, so as to mitigate the bunching of several years' effort into a single year's high-rate charge. 'Author' was defined to include a joint author, and 'lump sum' to include a non-returnable advance. By its own terms the relief does not apply to any previous year relevant to an assessment year commencing on or after 1 April 2000, and it is therefore spent for current purposes.
2. No reported jurisprudence
Section 180 has generated no reported decision construing it on the merits; the published material is statutory text and commentary only. Given that the relief is spent from assessment year 2000-01, it survives in the treatise as a matter of historical record. No 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.
180. Where the time taken by the author of a literary or artistic work in the making thereof is more than twelve months, the amount received or receivable by him during any previous year on account of any lump sum consideration for the assignment or grant of any of his interests in the copyright of that work or of royalties or copyright fees (whether receivable in lump sum or otherwise), in respect of that work, shall, if he so claims, be allocated for purposes of assessment in such manner and to such period as may be prescribed :
Provided that nothing contained in this section shall apply in relation to the previous year relevant to the assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 2000.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, the expression "author" includes a joint author, and the expression "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. Consideration for know-how.
C. AUTHORITIES
Candour rule. Section 180 is a spent spreading-relief provision (inapplicable from AY 2000-01) with no reported case law. The statutory mechanics are summarised in the commentary and verbatim text.
Cluster A — No authority
No reported decision construes section 180. The provision is spent from assessment year 2000-01 and is retained for historical completeness; no authority is invented.
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.