Section 151: deduction for royalty income of authors

What qualifies

The deduction applies to a resident individual author whose gross total income includes income earned in the exercise of their profession, from a lump-sum consideration for assigning or granting an interest in the copyright of a book (literary, artistic or scientific work), or from royalty/copyright fees (lump sum or otherwise) on such a book.

How much can be deducted

The deduction equals the whole of the qualifying income, or ₹3,00,000, whichever is less.

Where the royalty is not a lump-sum consideration for all the author's rights in the book, any portion of the income (before expenses) that exceeds 15% of the value of copies of the book sold during the year is ignored for this deduction.

For income earned from a source outside India, only the amount actually brought into India in convertible foreign exchange within six months of the end of the tax year (or a further period the competent authority allows) counts.

Conditions and definitions

• A prescribed certificate must be furnished with the return of income; for foreign-sourced income, an additional certificate from the prescribed authority is required.
• Once claimed under this section, the same income cannot be deducted again under any other provision.
• "Author" includes a joint author.
• "Books" excludes brochures, commentaries, diaries, guides, journals, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, text-books for schools, tracts and similar publications.
• "Lump sum" includes a non-returnable advance payment of royalty or copyright fees.

Frequently asked questions