Dividends
Dividends.
18 194. 19The principal officer of an Indian company or a company which has made the prescribed arrangements for the declaration and payment of dividends (including dividends on preference shares) within India, shall, before making any payment in cash or before issuing any cheque or warrant in respect of any dividends or before making any distribution or payment to a shareholder, of any dividend within the meaning of sub-clause (a ) or sub-clause (b) or sub-clause (c) or sub-clause (d) or sub-clause (e) of clause (22) of section 2, deduct from the amount of such dividend, income-tax 20[***] at the rates in force:
21 [Provided that no such deduction shall be made in the case of a shareholder, being an individual, who is resident in India, of a company in which the public are substantially interested, if—
( a) the dividend is paid by such company by an account payee cheque; and
( b) the amount of such dividend or, as the case may be, the aggregate of the amount of such dividend distributed or paid or likely to be distributed or paid during the financial year by the company to the shareholder, does not exceed 22[two thousand five hundred rupees]:
23 Provided 24[ further] that where in the case of any shareholders, not being a company, the 25 [Assessing] Officer gives a certificate in writing in the prescribed manner 26that to the best of his belief the total income 27[***] of the shareholder will be less than the minimum liable to income-tax, the person responsible for paying any dividend to the shareholder shall so long as the certificate is in force pay the dividend without any deduction.