Direct Payment [Section 191] :

Section 191 provides that in the following cases, tax is payable by the assessee directly –

(1) in the case of income in respect of which tax is not required to be deducted at source; and

(2) income in respect of which tax is liable to be deducted but is not actually deducted.

In view of these provisions of section 191, the proceedings for recovery of tax necessarily had to be taken against the assessee whose tax was liable to be deducted, but not deducted.

In order to overcome this difficulty, the Explanation to this section provides that if –

(1) any person, including the principal officer of the company, who is required to deduct tax at source; or

(2) an employer paying tax on non-monetary perquisites under section 192(1A),

does not deduct the whole or part of the tax, or after deduct ing fails to pay such tax deducted, then such person shall be deemed to be an assessee in default.

However, if the assessee himself has paid the tax, this provision will not apply.