The Wealth-tax Act, 1957

(1) This Act may be called the Wealth-tax Act, 1957. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of April, 1957.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, 1** * * * 2[(b) Appellate Tribunal means the Appellate Tribunal constituted under section 252 of theIncome-tax Act; (c) assessee means a person by whom wealth-tax or any other sum of money is payable underthis Act, and includes-- (i) every person in respect of whom any proceeding under this Act has been taken for thedetermination of wealth-tax payable by him or by any other person or the amount of refund due tohim or such other person; (ii) every person who is deemed to be an assessee under this Act; (iii) every person who is deemed to be an assessee in default under this Act; 3[(ca) Assessing Officer means the Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax or the AssistantCommissioner or the Income-tax Officer who is vested with the relevant jurisdiction by virtue ofdirections or orders issued under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) of section 120 or any otherprovision of the Income-tax Act which apply for the purposes of wealth-tax under section 8 of thisAct and also the 4[Additional Commissioner or] 5[Additional Director or] Joint Commissioner who isdirected under clause (b) of sub-section (4) of the said section 120 to exercise or perform all or any ofthe powers and functions conferred on or assigned to the Assessing Officer under that Act;] 6[(cb)] assessment includes reassessment; (d) assessment year means a period of twelve months commencing on the 1st day of April,every year;] 7[(e) assets includes property of every description, movable or immovable, but does notinclude,-- (1) in relation to the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1969, or anyearlier assessment year-- (i) agricultural land and growing crops, grass or standing trees on such land; (ii) any building owned or occupied by a cultivator of, or receiver of rent or revenue outof, agricultural land: Provided that the building is on or in the immediate vicinity of the land and is a buildingwhich the cultivator or the receiver of rent or revenue by reason of his connection with theland requires as a dwelling house or a store-house or an out-house; (iii) animals; (iv) a right to any annuity in any case where the terms and conditions relating theretopreclude the commutation of any portion thereof into a lump sum grant; (v) any interest in property where the interest is available to an assessee for a period notexceeding six years from the date the interest vests in the assessee; (2) in relation to the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1970, or anysubsequent assessment year 8[but before the 1st day of April, 1993]-- (i) animals; (ii) a right to 9[any annuity (not being an annuity purchased by the assessee or purchasedby any other person in pursuance of a contract with the assessee)] in any case where the termsand conditions relating thereto preclude the commutation of any portion thereof into a lumpsum grant; (iii) any interest in property where the interest is available to an assessee for a period notexceeding six years from the date the interest vests in the assessee:] 10[Provided that in relation to the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April,1981, 11[and the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1982], this sub-clauseshall have effect subject to the modification that for item (i) thereof, the following item shallbe substituted, namely: (i) (a) agricultural land other than land comprised in any tea, coffee, rubber orcardamom plantation; (b) any building owned or occupied by a cultivator of, or receiver of rent or revenueout of, agricultural land other than land comprised in any tea, coffee, rubber or cardamomplantation: Provided that the building is on or in the immediate vicinity of the land and is abuilding which the cultivator or the receiver of the rent or revenue by reason of hisconnection with the land requires as a dwelling-house or a store-house or an out-house; (c) animals: 12[Provided further that in relation to the assessment year commencing on the 1st dayof April, 1983 or any subsequent assessment year, this sub-clause shall have effectsubject to the modification that for item (i) thereof, the following item shall besubstituted, namely:-- (i) (a) agricultural land and growing crops (including fruits on trees), grass orstanding trees on such land; (b) one building or one group of buildings owned or occupied by a cultivator of,or receiver of rent or revenue out of, agricultural land: Provided that such buildings or group of buildings is on or in the immediatevicinity of the land and is a building which the cultivator or the receiver of rent orrevenue by reason of his connection with the land requires as store-house or forkeeping livestock;-- (c) animals:] 13[14[Provided also that]] in relation to the State of Jammu* and Kashmir, thissub-clause shall have effect subject to the modification that for the assets specifiedin 15[item (i)] of this sub-clause, the assets specified in 16[items (i) to (iii)] of sub-clause(1) shall be substituted and the other provisions of this Act shall be construedaccordingly;] 17[(ea) "assets", in relation to the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1993, or anysubsequent assessment year, means-- 18[(i) any building or land appurtenant thereto (hereinafter referred to as "house"), whetherused for residential or commercial purposes or for the purpose of maintaining a guest house orotherwise including a farm house situated within twenty-five kilometres from local limits of anymunicipality (whether known as Municipality, Municipal Corporation or by any other name) or aCantonment Board, but does not include (1) a house meant exclusively for residential purposes and which is allotted by a companyto an employee or an officer or a director who is in whole-time employment, having a grossannual salary of less than 19[ten lakh rupees]; (2) any house for residential or commercial purposes which forms part of stock-in-trade; (3) any house which the assessee may occupy for the purposes of any business orprofession carried on by him; (4) any residential property that has been let-out for a minimum period of three hundreddays in the previous year; (5) any property in the nature of commercial establishments or complexes;] (ii) motor cars (other than those used by the assessee in the business of running them on hireor as stock-in-trade); (iii) jewellery, bullion, furniture, utensils or any other article made wholly or partly of gold,silver, platinum or any other precious metal or any alloy containing one or more of such preciousmetals: Provided that where any of the said assets is used by the assessee as stock-in-trade, such assetshall be deemed as excluded from the assets specified in this sub-clause; (iv) yachts, boats and aircrafts (other than those used by the assessee for commercialpurposes); (v) urban land; (vi) cash in hand, in excess of fifty thousand rupees, of individuals and Hindu undividedfamilies and in the case of other persons any amount not recorded in the books of account. Explanation 20[1].--For the purposes of this clause,-- (a) "jewellery" includes-- (i) ornaments made of gold, silver, platinum or any other precious metal or any alloycontaining one or more of such precious metals, whether or not containing any precious or semiprecious stones, and whether or not worked or sewn into any wearing apparel; (ii) precious or semi-precious stones, whether or not set in any furniture, utensils or otherarticle or worked or sewn into any wearing apparel; 21[(b) "urban land" means land situate-- (i) in any area which is comprised within the jurisdiction of a municipality (whether knownas a municipality, municipal corporation, notified area committee, town area committee, towncommittee, or by any other name) or a cantonment board and which has a population of not lessthan ten thousand; or (ii) in any area within the distance, measured aerially, (I) not being more than two kilometres, from the local limits of any municipality orcantonment board referred to in sub-clause (i) and which has a population of more than tenthousand but not exceeding one lakh; or (II) not being more than six kilometres, from the local limits of any municipality orcantonment board referred to in sub-clause (i) and which has a population of more than onelakh but not exceeding ten lakh; or (III) not being more than eight kilometres, from the local limits of any municipality orcantonment board referred to in sub-clause (i) and which has a population of more than tenlakh, but does not include land classified as agricultural land in the records of the Government and used foragricultural purposes or land on which construction of a building is not permissible under any law forthe time being in force in the area in which such land is situated or the land occupied by any buildingwhich has been constructed with the approval of the appropriate authority or any unused land held bythe assessee for industrial purposes for a period of two years from the date of its acquisition by him orany land held by the assessee as stock-in-trade for a period of ten years from the date of itsacquisition by him. Explanation.--For the purposes of clause (b) of Explanation 1, population means the populationaccording to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published before the dateof valuation.]] 22[Explanation 2.--For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that jewellery does not includethe Gold Deposit Bonds issued under the Gold Deposit Scheme, 1999 notified by the CentralGovernment;] (f) "Board" means the 23[Central Board of Direct Taxes constituted under the Central Boards ofRevenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963)]; 24* * * * * 25[(h) "company" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (17) of section 2 of theIncome-tax Act;] 26[(ha) "co-operative society" means a co-operative society registered under the Co-operativeSocieties Act, 1912 (2 of 1912), or under any other law for the time being in force in any State for theregistration of co-operative societies;] 27* * * * * (i) "executor" means an executor or administrator of the estate of a deceased person; 28[(ia) "High Court", in relation to the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Goa,Daman and Diu, means the High Court at Bombay;] 29[(j) "Income-tax Act" means the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);] 30* * * * * 31c9560(ka) "India" means the territory of India as referred to in article 1 of the Constitution, itsterritorial waters, seabed and subsoil underlying such waters, continental shelf, exclusive economiczone or any other maritime zone as referred to in the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, ExclusiveEconomic Zone and other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 (80 of 1976), and the air space above itsterritory and territorial waters;] 32* * * * * 33[(lb) "legal representative" has the meaning assigned to it in clause (11) of section 2 of the Codeof Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908);] 34[(lc) "maximum marginal rate" means the rate of wealth-tax applicable in relation to the highestslab of wealth in the case of an individual as specified in Part I of Schedule I;] 35[(ld) "National Tax Tribunal" means the National Tax Tribunal established under section 3 of theNational Tax Tribunal Act, 2005 (49 of 2005);] (m) "net wealth" means the amount by which the aggregate value computed in accordance withthe provisions of this Act of all the assets, wherever located, belonging to the assessee on thevaluation date, including assets required to be included in his net wealth as on that date under thisAct, is in excess of the aggregate value of all the debts owed by the assessee 36[on the valuation datewhich have been incurred in relation to the said assets;] (n) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (o) "principal officer", used with reference to a company, means the secretary, manager,managing agent or managing director of the company, and includes any person connected with themanagement of the affairs of the company upon whom the 37[Assessing Officer] has served a notice ofhis intention of treating him as the principal officer thereof; 38[(oa) "public servant" has the same meaning as in section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of1860); 39[(oaa) "registered valuer" means a person registered as a valuer under section 34AB;](ob) "regular assessment" means the assessment made under 40[sub-section (3) or sub-section (5)of section 16];] (p) "Ruler" means a Ruler as defined in clause (22) of article 366 of the Constitution; (q) "valuation date", in relation to any year for which an assessment is to be made under this Act,means the last day of the previous year as defined in 41section 3 of the Income-tax Act, if anassessment were to be made under that Act for that year: 42[Provided that-- 43* * * * * (ii) in the case of a person who is not an assessee within the meaning of the Income-tax Act,the valuation date for the purposes of this Act shall be the 31st day of March immediatelypreceding the assessment year; (iii) where an assessment is made in pursuance of section 19A, the valuation date shall be thesame valuation date as would have been adopted in respect of the net wealth of the deceased if hewere alive;] 44[(r) "Valuation Officer" means a person appointed as a Valuation Officer under section 12A, andincludes a Regional Valuation Officer, a District Valuation Officer and an Assistant ValuationOfficer;] 45[(s) the expressions "Chief Commissioner, Director-General, Commissioner, Commissioner(Appeals), Director, Additional Director of Income-tax, Additional Commissioner of Income-tax,Joint Director, Joint Commissioner of Income-tax, Deputy Director, Deputy Commissioner, AssistantCommissioner, Assistant Director, Income-tax Officer, Inspector of Income-tax and Tax RecoveryOfficer" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them under section 2 of the Income-taxAct.]

1[(1)] 2[Subject to the other provisions contained in this Act], there shallbe charged for every 3[assessment year] commencing on and from the first day of April, 1957 4[but beforethe first day of April, 1993], a tax (hereinafter referred to as wealth-tax) in respect of the net wealth on thecorresponding valuation date of every individual, Hindu undivided family and company 5[at the rate orrates specified in Schedule I]. 5[(2) Subject to the other provisions contained in this Act, there shall be charged for every assessmentyear commencing on and from the 1st day of April, 1993, 6[but before the 1st day of April, 2016], wealthtax in respect of the net wealth on the corresponding valuation date of every individual, Hindu undividedfamily and company, at the rate of one per cent. of the amount by which the net wealth exceeds fifteenlakh rupees:] 7[Provided that in the case of every assessment year commencing on and from the 1st day of April,2010, the provisions of this section shall have effect as if for the words "fifteen lakh rupees", the words"thirty lakh rupees" had been substituted.

(1)1[In computing the net wealth-- (a) of an individual, there shall be included, as belonging to that individual, the value of assetswhich on the valuation date are held--] 2[(i) by the spouse of such individual to whom such assets have been transferred by theindividual, directly or indirectly, otherwise than for adequate consideration or in connection withan agreement to live apart, or (ii) by a minor child, not being 3[a minor child suffering from any disability of the naturespecified in section 80U of the Income-tax Act or] a married daughter, of such individual, 4*** or (iii) by a person or association of persons to whom such assets have been transferred by theindividual 5[, directly or indirectly] otherwise than for adequate consideration for the immediateor deferred benefit of the individual, his or her spouse 6***, or] (iv) by a person or association of persons to whom such assets have been transferred by theindividual otherwise than under an irrevocable transfer, 5[or] 5[(v) by the son’s wife, 7*** of such individual, to whom such assets have been transferred bythe individual, directly or indirectly, on or after the 1st day of June, 1973, otherwise than foradequate consideration,] 8[or] 8[(vi) by a person or association of persons to whom such assets have been transferred by theindividual, directly or indirectly, on or after the 1st day of June, 1973, otherwise than foradequate consideration for the immediate or deferred benefit of the son’s wife, 7*** of suchindividual or both,] whether the assets referred to in any of the sub-clauses aforesaid are held in the form in which they weretransferred or otherwise: 9[Provided that where the transfer of such assets or any part thereof is either chargeable to gift-taxunder the Gift-tax Act, 1958 (18 of 1958), or is not chargeable under section 5 of that Act, for anyassessment year commencing 10[after the 31st day of March, 1964, but before the 1st day of April, 1972,]the value of such assets or part thereof, as the case may be, shall not be included in computing the netwealth of the individual:] 11[Provided further that nothing contained in sub-clause (ii) shall apply in respect of such assets ashave been acquired by the minor child out of his income referred to in the proviso to sub-section (1A) ofsection 64 of the Income-tax Act and which are held by him on the valuation date : Provided also that where the assets held by a minor child are to be included in computing the netwealth of an individual, such assets shall be included,-- (a) where the marriage of his parents subsists, in the net wealth of that parent whose net wealth(excluding the assets of the minor child so includible under this sub-section) is greater; or (b) where the marriage of his parents does not subsist, in the net wealth of that parent whomaintains the minor child in the previous year as defined in section 3 of the Income-tax Act, and where any such assets are once included in the net wealth of either parent, any such assets shall not beincluded in the net wealth of the other parent in any succeeding year unless the Assessing Officer issatisfied, after giving that parent an opportunity of being heard, that it is necessary so to do;] 12[(b) of an assessee who is a partner in a firm or a member of an association of persons (not beinga co-operative housing society), there shall be included, as belonging to that assessee, the value ofhis 13[interest in the assets of the firm] or association determined in the manner laid down inSchedule III: 14[Provided that where a minor is admitted to the benefits of partnership in a firm, the value of theinterest of such minor in the firm, determined in the manner specified above, shall be included in thenet wealth of the parent of the minor, so far as may be, in accordance with the provisions of the thirdproviso to clause (a).]] 15[(1A) Where, in the case of an individual being a member of a Hindu undivided family, any propertyhaving been the separate property of the individual has, at any time after the 31st day of December, 1969,been converted by the individual into property belonging to the family through the act of impressing suchseparate property with the character of property belonging to the family or throwing it 16[into the commonstock of the family or been transferred by the individual, directly or indirectly, to the family otherwisethan for adequate consideration (the property so converted or transferred being hereinafter referred to asthe converted property)], then, notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act or inany other law for the time being in force, for the purpose of computing the net wealth of the individualunder this Act for any assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 1972,-- (a) the individual shall be deemed to have transferred the converted property, through the family,to the members of the family for being held by them jointly ; (b) the converted property or any part thereof 17*** shall be deemed to be assets belonging to theindividual and not to the family ; 18[(c) where the converted property has been the subject-matter of a partition (whether partial ortotal) amongst the members of the family, the converted property or any part thereof which isreceived by the spouse 19*** of the individual on such partition shall be deemed to be assetstransferred indirectly by the individual to the spouse 19*** and the provisions of sub-section (1) shall,so far as may be, apply accordingly:] Provided that the property referred to in clause (b) or clause (c) shall, on being included in the netwealth of the individual, be excluded from the net wealth of the family or, as the case may be, thespouse 19*** of the individual.] 20* * * * * 21* * * * * (4) Nothing contained in clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall apply to any such transfer as is referred totherein made by an individual before the 1st day of April, 1956, and the value of any assets so transferredshall not be included in the computation of his net wealth. 22[(4A) Notwithstanding anything in sub-section (4), nothing contained in clause (a) of sub-section (1)shall apply to any such transfer as is referred to therein made before the 1st day of April, 1963, by anindividual who but for the extension of this Act to the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa,Daman and Diu, and Pondicherry, would not have been an assessee, and the value of any assets sotransferred shall not be included in the computation of his net wealth.] (5) The value of any assets transferred under an irrevocable transfer shall be liable to be included incomputing the net wealth of the transferor as and when the power to revoke arises to him. 23[(5A) Where a gift of money from one person to another is made by means of entries in the books ofaccount maintained by the person making the gift or by an individual or a Hindu undivided family or afirm or an association of persons or body of individuals with whom or which he has business or otherrelationship, the value of such gift shall be liable to be included in computing the net wealth of the personmaking the gift unless he proves to the satisfaction of the 24[Assessing Officer] that the money has actuallybeen delivered to the other person at the time the entries were made.] 25[(6) For the purposes of this Act, the holder of an impartible estate shall be deemed to be theindividual owner of all the properties comprised in the estate. 26[(7) Where the assessee is a member of a co-operative society, company or other association ofpersons and a building or part thereof is allotted or leased to him under a house building scheme of thesociety, company or association, as the case may be, the assessee shall, notwithstanding anythingcontained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, be deemed to be the owner of suchbuilding or part and the value of such building or part, shall be included in computing the net wealth ofthe assessee; and, in determining the value of such building or part, the value of any outstandinginstalments of the amount payable under such scheme by the assessee to the society, company orassociation towards the cost of such building or part and the land appurtenant thereto shall, whether theamount so payable is described as such or in any other manner in such scheme, be deducted as a debtowed by him in relation to such building or part. (8) A person-- (a) who is allowed to take or retain possession of any building or part thereof in part performanceof a contract of the nature referred to in section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of1882); (b) who acquires any rights (excluding any rights by way of a lease from month to month or for aperiod not exceeding one year) in or with respect to any building or part thereof by virtue of any suchtransaction as is referred to in clause (f) of section 269UA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961),shall be deemed to be the owner of that building or part thereof and the value of such building or part shall be included in computing the net wealth of such person.] Explanation.--For the purposes of this section,-- (a) the expression "transfer" includes any disposition, settlement, trust, covenant, agreement orarrangement; 27*** 23[(aa) the expression “child” includes a step-child and an adopted child;] (b) the expression “irrevocable transfer” includes a transfer of assets which, by the terms of theinstrument effecting it, is not revocable for a period exceeding six years or during the lifetime of thetransferee, and under which the transferor derives no direct or indirect benefit, but does not include atransfer of assets if such instrument-- (i) contains any provision for the retransfer, directly or indirectly, of the whole or any part ofthe assets or income therefrom to the transferor, or (ii) in any way gives the transferor a right to reassume power, directly or indirectly, over thewhole or any part of the assets or income therefrom;]28[and] 29[(c) the expression “property” includes any interest in any property, movable or immovable, theproceeds of sale thereof and any money or investment for the time being representing the proceeds ofsale thereof and where the property is converted into any other property by any method, such otherproperty 30***. 31* * * * *]

1[2*** Wealth-tax shall not be payable by an assesseein respect of the following assets], and such assets shall not be included in the net wealth of theassessee-- (i) any property held by him under trust or other legal obligation for any public purpose of acharitable or religious nature in India : 3[Provided that nothing contained in this clause shall apply to any property forming part of anybusiness, not being a business referred to in clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (4A) of section 11of the Income-tax Act in respect of which separate books of account are maintained or a businesscarried on by an institution, fund or trust referred to in 4*** clause (23B) or clause (23C) of section 10of that Act;] (ii) the interest of the assessee in the coparcenary property of any Hindu undivided family ofwhich he is a member; (iii)5[any one building in the occupation of a Ruler, being a building which immediately beforethe commencement of the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 1971, was his officialresidence by virtue of a declaration by the Central Government] under paragraph 13 of the MergedStates (Taxation Concessions) Order, 1949, or paragraph 15 of the Part B States (TaxationConcessions) Order, 1950; 6* * * * * 7[(iv)] jewellery in the possession of any Ruler, not being his personal property, which has beenrecognised before the commencement of this Act, by the Central Government as his heirloom or,where no such recognition exists, which the Board may, subject to any rules that may be made by theCentral Government in this behalf, recognise as his heirloom at the time of his first assessment towealth-tax under this Act: 8[Provided that in the case of jewellery recognised by the Central Government as aforesaid, suchrecognition shall be subject to the following conditions, namely:-- (i) that the jewellery shall be permanently kept in India and shall not be removed outsideIndia except for a purpose and period approved by the Board; (ii) that reasonable steps shall be taken for keeping the jewellery substantially in its originalshape; (iii) that reasonable facilities shall be allowed to any officer of Government authorised by theBoard in this behalf to examine the jewellery as and when necessary; and (iv) that if any of the conditions hereinbefore specified is not being duly fulfilled, the Boardmay, for reasons to be recorded in writing, withdraw the recognition retrospectively with effectfrom the date of commencement of clause (b) of section 5 of the Rulers of Indian States(Abolition of Privileges) Act, 1972 (54 of 1972), and in such a case, wealth-tax shall becomepayable by the Ruler for all the assessment years after such commencement for which thejewellery was exempted on account of the recognition. Explanation.--For the purposes of clause (iv) of the foregoing proviso, the fair market value of anyjewellery on the date of the withdrawal of the recognition in respect thereof shall be deemed to be the fairmarket value of such jewellery on each successive valuation date relevant for the assessment yearsreferred to in the said proviso: Provided further that the aggregate amount of wealth-tax payable in respect of any jewellery underclause (iv) of the foregoing proviso for all the assessment years referred to therein shall not in any caseexceed fifty per cent. of its fair market value on the valuation date relevant for the assessment year inwhich recognition was withdrawn;] 9* * * * * 10[11[(v)] in the case of an assessee, being a person of Indian origin 12[or a citizen of India (hereafterin this clause referred to as such person)] who was ordinarily residing in a foreign country and who,on leaving such country, has returned to India with the intention of permanently residing therein,moneys and the value of assets brought by him into India and the value of the assets acquired by himout of such moneys 13[within one year immediately preceding the date of his return and at any timethereafter]: Provided that this exemption shall apply only for a period of seven successive assessment yearscommencing with the assessment year next following the date on which such person returned to India. Explanation 14[1].--A person shall be deemed to be of Indian origin if he, or either of his parents orany of his grand-parents, was born in undivided India.] 15[Explanation 2.--For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that moneys standing to the creditof such person in a Non-resident (External) Account in any bank in India in accordance with the ForeignExchange Regulation Act, 1973 (46 of 1973), and any rules made thereunder, on the date of his return toIndia, shall be deemed to be moneys brought by him into India on that date;] 16[(vi) one house or part of a house or a plot of land belonging to an individual or a Hinduundivided family: Provided that wealth-tax shall not be payable by an assessee in respect of an asset being a plot ofland comprising an area of five hundred square metres or less.] 17* * * * * 18* * * * *