§ 62
Chapter IV — Computation Of Total Income
Maintenance of books of account
Income-tax Act, 2025
Business owners and professionals must maintain books of account to enable the Assessing Officer to compute their total income. This applies to specified professions and businesses with certain income or sales thresholds.
- Income from business or profession exceeds ₹1,20,000, or
- total sales, turnover, or gross receipts exceed ₹10 lakh in any of the three preceding years.
📜 Official text of the section +
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.
Tax audit.
Plain-language summary — not the official text. Refer to the bare Act and confirm with a professional for your specific case.