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Income-tax Act, 2025 | Section 62

Section 62 - Maintenance of books of account

Specified professionals and businesses crossing the relevant conditions must maintain prescribed books and documents for the required period.

Reviewed by CA Nikhil Gupta · Updated 9 October 2026

Section 62: operativeEffective 1 April 2026Tax Year 2026-27 onwardReviewed 8 October 2026
Current-law control

Section 62 is presented using the consolidated Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by the Finance Act, 2026. The general commencement date is 1 April 2026. Earlier years and saved proceedings may remain governed by the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the repeal/savings framework.

2-minute professional decode

Specified professionals and businesses crossing the relevant conditions must maintain prescribed books and documents for the required period.

Professional checkpoint: Apply the provision only after checking the defined person, tax year, evidence, thresholds and any connected Rule or Schedule.

Who should test this section?

Section 62 should be tested by businesses, professionals, non-residents and advisers whenever the computation touches maintenance of books of account; the special rule must be checked before the ordinary business-profit machinery is applied.

Evidence to retain

For section 62, retain the contracts, ledgers, invoices, banking evidence, prescribed reports and computation papers that specifically prove the factual trigger and quantum for maintenance of books of account.

1961 Act bridge

Legacy provisionLegacy headingMapping
44AAMaintenance of accounts by certain persons carrying on profession or business.Renumbered / mapped

The bridge is a research aid. Legacy case law carries over only after the current wording and transition rules are matched.

Rules and forms linked to this section

RuleOperational roleMapped form(s)
Rule 46Maintenance of books of account under section 62Form 25

Worked application

A professional’s receipts and income cross the statutory bookkeeping thresholds. The compliance file should identify the applicable limb, the books/documents prescribed by Rule 46 and the period for which they must be retained.

Common mistake

A recurring section 62 error is to carry the book or ordinary tax treatment into maintenance of books of account without first testing the provision-specific override, eligibility conditions and linked Rule/Form requirements.

Compliance approach

Identify the statutory trigger for section 62, lock the relevant tax year, reconcile the facts to the operative sub-section, preserve the evidence trail and separately test every linked Rule, Form, Schedule and exception before finalising the return position.

Numeric / timing checkpoints in the operative text

Related provisions

Current statutory text

62. (1)(a) Any person carrying on specified profession; or (b) any person carrying on, business; or any profession [not being a profes- sion referred to in clause (a)] and satisfying the conditions referred to in sub-section (2), shall keep and maintain such books of account and other documents to enable the Assessing Officer to compute his total income under this Act. (2) The conditions in respect of persons referred to in sub-section (1)(b) shall be the following:— (a) where the income from business or profession exceeds ₹ 120000 or its total sales, turnover or gross receipts from such business or profession exceeds ten lakh rupees in any one of the three years immediately preced- ing the tax year; or (b) where business or profession is newly set up in the tax year, the income from business or profession is likely to exceed ₹ 120000 or its total sales, turnover or gross receipts from such business or profession is likely to exceed ten lakh rupees during such tax year; or (c) where during the tax year, the assessee referred to in section 58(2) or 61(2) (Table: Sl. Nos. 4 and 5), has claimed income from business or profession to be lower than the deemed profits as referred to in section 58(2) or section 61(2); or (d) in case of an individual or Hindu undivided family, clauses (a) and (b) shall be modified to the extent of income from such business or profession exceeding ₹ 250000 and its total sales, turnover or gross receipts from such business or profession exceeding twenty-five lakh rupees. (3) For the purposes of this section, the Board may prescribe— (a) the books of account and other documents (including inventories, wher- ever necessary) to be kept and maintained; (b) particulars to be contained therein; (c) the form, manner and place at which they shall be kept and maintained; and (d) the period for which such books of account and other documents are to be retained. (4) For the purposes of this section, the expression “specified profession” means— (a) legal, medical, engineering, architectural, accountancy, technical consul- tancy, interior decoration, information technology or company secretary; or (b) any other profession, as may be notified by the Board in this behalf.

Primary-source trail

Source status: full Section 62 statutory text in the local source corpus; reconciled to the current consolidated Act control on 8 October 2026.

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