CHAPTER XV
LIABILITY IN SPECIAL CASES
A.—Legal
representatives
Legal
representatives.13
159. (1) Where a person dies, his legal representative shall be liable to pay
any sum which the deceased would have been liable to pay if he had not died, in
the like manner and to the same extent as the deceased.
(2) For the purpose of making an assessment
(including an assessment, reassessment or recomputation under section 147) of the income of the deceased and for
the purpose of levying any sum in the hands of the legal representative in
accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1),—
(a) any proceeding taken against the deceased
before his death shall be deemed to have been taken against the legal
representative and may be continued against the legal representative from the
stage at which it stood on the date of the death of the deceased;
(b) any proceeding which could have been taken
against the deceased if he had survived, may be taken against the legal
representative; and
(c) all the provisions of this Act shall apply
accordingly.
(3) The legal representative of the deceased
shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be an assessee.
(4) Every legal representative shall be
personally liable for any tax payable by him in his capacity as legal
representative if, while his liability for tax remains undischarged, he creates
a charge on or disposes of or parts with any assets14 of the estate of the deceased, which are in,
or may come into, his possession, but such liability shall be limited to the
value of the asset so charged, disposed of or parted with.
(5) The provisions of sub-section (2) of section 161, section 162,
and section 167, shall, so far as may be and to
the extent to which they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this
section, apply in relation to a legal representative.
(6) The liability of a legal representative
under this section shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (4) and
sub-section (5), be limited to the extent to which the estate is capable of
meeting the liability.
