Agreement with foreign countries or specified territories
Section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 deals with agreement with foreign countries or specified territories. The Central Government may enter into an agreement with the Government of any country outside India or specified territory outside India,— (a) for the granting of relief in respect of— (i) income on which have been paid both income-tax under this Act and income-tax in that country or specified terri The Act came into force on 01 Apr 1962. Repealed by the Income-tax Act, 2025 with effect from 1 April 2026, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.
(1) The Central Government may enter into an agreement with the Government of any country outside India or specified territory outside India,—
(a) for the granting of relief in respect of—
(i) income on which have been paid both income-tax under this Act and income-tax in that country or specified territory, as the case may be, or (ii) income-tax chargeable under this Act and under the corresponding law in force in that country or specified territory, as the case may be, to promote mutual economic relations, trade and investment, or (b) for the avoidance of double taxation of income under this Act and under the corresponding law in force in that country or specified territory, as the case may be, without creating opportunities for non-taxation or reduced taxation through tax evasion or avoidance (including through treaty-shopping arrangements aimed at obtaining reliefs provided in the said agreement for the indirect benefit to residents of any other country or territory), or (c) for exchange of information for the prevention of evasion or avoidance of income-tax chargeable under this Act or under the corresponding law in force in that country or specified territory, as the case may be, or investigation of cases of such evasion or avoidance, or (d) for recovery of income-tax under this Act and under the corresponding law in force in that country or specified territory, as the case may be, and may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make such provisions as may be necessary for implementing the agreement.
(2) Where the Central Government has entered into an agreement with the Government of any country outside India or specified territory outside India, as the case may be, under sub-section (1) for granting relief of tax, or as the case may be, avoidance of double taxation, then, in relation to the assessee to whom such agreement applies, the provisions of this Act shall apply to the extent they are more beneficial to that assessee. (2A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2), the provisions of Chapter X-A of the Act shall apply to the assessee even if such provisions are not beneficial to him.
(3) Any term used but not defined in this Act or in the agreement referred to in sub-section (1) shall, unless the context otherwise requires, and is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act or the agreement, have the same meaning as assigned to it in the notification issued by the Central Government in the Official Gazette in this behalf.
(4) An assessee, not being a resident, to whom an agreement referred to in sub-section (1) applies, shall not be entitled to claim any relief under such agreement unless a certificate of his being a resident in any country outside India or specified territory outside India, as the case may be, is obtained by him from the Government of that country or specified territory.
(5) The assessee referred to in sub-section (4) shall also provide such other documents and information, as may be prescribed.
Explanation 1.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the charge of tax in respect of a foreign company at a rate higher than the rate at which a domestic company is chargeable, shall not be regarded as less favourable charge or levy of tax in respect of such foreign company.
Explanation 2.—For the purposes of this section, "specified territory" means any area outside India which may be notified as such by the Central Government.
Explanation 3.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that where any term is used in any agreement entered into under sub-section (1) and not defined under the said agreement or the Act, but is assigned a meaning to it in the notification issued under sub-section (3) and the notification issued thereunder being in force, then, the meaning assigned to such term shall be deemed to have effect from the date on which the said agreement came into force.
Explanation 4.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that where any term used in an agreement entered into under sub-section (1) is defined under the said agreement, the said term shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the agreement; and where the term is not defined in the said agreement, but defined in the Act, it shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the Act and explanation, if any, given to it by the Central Government.
Adoption by Central Government of agreement between specified associations for double taxation relief.
Section 90, The Income-tax Act, 1961 (Act 43 of 1961).
Now in the Income-tax Act
INCOME-TAX-ACT-2025 159 Agreement with foreign countries or specified territories and adoption by Central Government of agreement between specified associations for double taxation relief Official correspondence
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
Referred to by 52
- Finance Act s. 23 Substitution of new section for section 90
- Finance Act s. 39 Amendment of section 90
- Finance Act s. 48 Amendment of section 90
- Finance Act s. 49 Amendment of section 90
- Finance Act s. 24 Amendment of section 90
- Finance Act s. 40 Substitution of new section for section 90
- Finance Act s. 32 Amendment of section 90
- Finance Act s. 23 Amendment of section 90
- Finance Act s. 39 Amendment of section 90
- Finance Act s. 41 Amendment of Section 90
- s. 2 Definitions
- s. 9A Certain activities not to constitute business connection in India
and 40 more
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Principal Commissioner of Income Tax-7 v. Polyplex Corporation Ltd.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Labelled Final Order / Judgment pronounced 18.07.2023 (order-1.pdf; DATE-VERIFIED): Delhi HC dismissed Revenue appeals. Under Indo-Thai DTAA Art.23(2)–(3) tax-sparing credit, "Thai tax payable" includes tax that would have been payable but for Investment Promotion Act / Revenue Code exemptions; dividend from Thai subsidiary entitled to notional FTC despite no actual Thai tax paid. s.90(2) DTAA primacy noted.
On this section: s.90 — DTAA tax credit / tax sparing; treaty override.
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Anila Rasiklal Mehta vs The Union of India
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
While the Black Money Act provisions may be applied to undisclosed foreign assets that come to the notice of the assessing officer, and respondents may proceed pursuant to notices issued under the Act, no coercive measures may be taken against assessees who were statutorily barred from making voluntary declarations under Section 59 due to Section 71(d)(iii) and who raise arguable constitutional questions regarding discrimination and retrospective application, pending final determination of the constitutional validity of such provisions.
On this section: Power to enter into agreements with foreign governments for exchange of information
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… correct legal position is that where a specific provision is made in the double taxation avoidance agreement, that provisions will prevail over the general provisions contained in the Income-tax Act. In fact that the double taxation avoidance agreements which have been entered into by the Central Government under section 90 of the Income-tax Act, also provide that the laws in force in either country will continue to govern the assessment and taxation of income in the respective countries except where provisions to the contrary have been made in the agreement. <sup>31</sup> F. No. 506/42/81-FTD. 3. Thus, where a double …
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… 22nd September, 1993, after the notification by both the Contracting States to each other of the completion of the proceedings required by laws for bringing into force of the said agreement in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 30 of the said Agreement: Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), section 24A of the Companies (Profits) Surtax Act, 1964 (7 of 1964), and section 44A of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (27 of 1957), the Central Government hereby directs that all the provisions of the said agreement shall be given effect to in the Union of India. …
Questions about Section 90
What have the courts held on Section 90 of the Income-tax Act?
Principal Commissioner of Income Tax-7 v. Polyplex Corporation Ltd. (18 Jul 2023) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: s.90 — DTAA tax credit / tax sparing; treaty override. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below. They run from 2020 to 2023.
How do I find court cases under Section 90 of the Income-tax Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Income Tax Act 90, section 90 Income Tax Act, section 90 of the Income-tax Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 2 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Principal Commissioner of Income Tax-7 v. Polyplex Corporation Ltd. (18 Jul 2023).
What should I read with Section 90 of the Income-tax Act, and has it changed?
52 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 April 2026 the provision to read is Income-tax Act, 2025, section 159 (Agreement with foreign countries or specified territories and adoption by Central Government of agreement between specified associations for double taxation relief), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 90 of the Income-tax Act come into force?
Section 90 of the Income-tax Act, cited as Income Tax Act 90, came into force on 01 Apr 1962, having been enacted on 13 Sep 1961. It is no longer in force.
Other sections of this Act
- 10. Incomes not included in total income30885 words
- 2. Definitions11419 words
- 80HHF. Deduction in respect of profits and gains from export or transfer of film software, etc7148 words
- 80-IB. Deduction in respect of profits and gains from certain industrial undertakings other than infrastructure development undertakings5474 words
- 155. Other amendments5451 words
- 139. Return of income5400 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Recovered from the consolidated text published by the Income Tax Department, as amended by the Finance Act, 2026. India Code holds no record of this Act in any form. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.