Rights and obligations of a representative assessee
171. (1) Every representative assessee shall, in his representative capacity, be liable to assessment only in respect of the tax base of the person represented by him.
(2) Every representative assessee shall be subject to the same duties, responsibilities and liabilities as if the tax bases accrued to him or received, or owned, by him.
(3) The tax on tax bases of the representative assessee shall be levied upon, and recovered from, him in the manner, and to the extent, as it would have been leviable upon, and recoverable from, the person represented by him.
(4) Any representative assessee, or any person who apprehends that he may be assessed as a representative assessee, may retain a sum equal to his estimated liability under this Chapter out of the money payable by him to the person on whose behalf he is liable to pay tax (hereinafter in this section referred to as the principal).
(5) The representative assessee, or the person referred to in sub-section (4), in the event of disagreement between him and the principal as to the amount to be so retained, may apply to the Assessing Officer for a certificate stating the amount to be so retained pending final settlement of the liability.
(6) Upon receipt of the application under sub-section (5), the Assessing Officer shall issue, within one month from the date of receipt of the application, the certificate stating the amount to be retained by the representative assessee or the person.
(7) The certificate issued under sub-section (6) shall be the warrant for retaining the amount specified therein by the representative assessee or the person.
(8) The amount recoverable from the representative assessee, or the person, at the time of final settlement shall not exceed the amount specified in such certificate, except to the extent to which the representative assessee, or the person, may have additional assets of the principal at that time.
(9) Every representative assessee who, as such, pays any sum under this Code, shall be entitled to -
(a) recover the sum so paid from the principal; or
(b) retain an amount equal to the sum so paid out of any moneys that may be in his possession, or may come to him, in his representative capacity.
(10) In the case of a representative assessee referred to in clause (e), clause (f) or clause (g) of sub-section (1) of section 170,-
(a) any proceeding taken against the principal before his death or its dissolution or the appointment of the liquidator, shall be deemed to have been taken against the representative assessee and may be continued against him from the stage at which it stood on the date of the death or dissolution or the appointment;and
(b) any proceeding which could have been taken against the principal may be taken against the representative assessee, if the principal had survived or existed or the liquidator had not been appointed.
