Text
The text below is the section as served by the CBIC tax information portal on 17 September 2026, with the portal's own amendment footnote markers (shown as small numerals before a bracket) and its footnotes.[1] The Act as published in the Gazette of India is the legal source.
Section 145, verbatim (show)
* Section 145. Admissibility of micro films, facsimile copies of documents and computer printouts as documents and as evidence.-
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force,-
(a) a micro film of a document or the reproduction of the image or images embodied in such micro film (whether enlarged or not); or (b) a facsimile copy of a document; or (c) a statement contained in a document and included in a printed material produced by a computer, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed; or (d) any information stored electronically in any device or media, including any hard copies made of such information, shall be deemed to be a document for the purposes of this Act and the rules made thereunder and shall be admissible in any proceedings thereunder, without further proof or production of the original, as evidence of any contents of the original or of any fact stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible.
(2) In any proceedings under this Act or the rules made thereunder, where it is desired to give a statement in evidence by virtue of this section, a certificate,-
(a) identifying the document containing the statement and describing the manner in which it was produced;
(b) giving such particulars of any device involved in the production of that document as may be appropriate for the purpose of showing that the document was produced by a computer, shall be evidence of any matter stated in the certificate and for the purposes of this sub-section it shall be sufficient for a matter to be stated to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person stating it. *Enforced w.e.f. 1st July, 2017.
Questions to answer on the file
Questions a reviewer answers from the engagement file, grouped by the part of the section they come from. They describe what the section asks; they do not decide it.
Scope the section as a whole
Questions to answer on the file4 questions
The things sub-section (1) deems documents 145(1) and clauses (a) to (d)
Questions to answer on the file7 questions
What sub-section (1) makes of such a thing 145(1) closing words
Questions to answer on the file4 questions
The certificate under sub-section (2) 145(2) and clauses (a) and (b)
Questions to answer on the file9 questions
Amendment history
The CBIC text carries 1 footnote. The table gives each in the source's own terms. Effective dates are as the footnotes state them.[1]
| Note | Change | Instrument | Effective from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enforced the section | — | 1st July, 2017 |
Relationship with other provisions
| Provision | Connection | Words that tie them |
|---|---|---|
| Section 35 | 145(1)(d) requires Section 35 | 145(1)(d) "any information stored electronically in any device or media"; the second proviso to section 35(1) is where this Act permits accounts and other particulars to be kept in electronic form |
| Section 158 | 145(1) requires Section 158 | 145(1) "shall be deemed to be a document for the purposes of this Act and the rules made thereunder"; what this section deems a document is within the documents produced in accordance with this Act whose particulars section 158(1) protects, that phrase being section 158's words and not this section's |
Circulars and notifications
No circular or notification in the CBIC repository is recorded as citing this section.
Unsettled questions
The words of section 145 do not answer these questions. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.
- Sub-section (1) makes the things in clauses (a) to (d) admissible "without further proof or production of the original" and imposes no certificate. Sub-section (2) says only that a certificate "shall be evidence of any matter stated in the certificate"; it nowhere says that a thing without a certificate may not be given in evidence. Is a certificate a condition of giving the thing in evidence, or only a way of proving the matters stated in it?
- Sub-section (2) is worded "where it is desired to give a statement in evidence by virtue of this section", and a statement is the word clause (c) of sub-section (1) uses. Clauses (a), (b) and (d) speak of a micro film, a facsimile copy and information stored electronically, none of which the section calls a statement. Does sub-section (2) reach those three as well, or only a statement under clause (c)?
- Sub-section (2) requires "a certificate" and says that a matter may be stated "to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person stating it". It nowhere says who that person may be — the taxpayer, an officer of his, the person who operated the computer, the officer who took the printout, or anybody at all. Whom does the firm accept as competent to give the certificate, and on what evidence of his position and knowledge?
See also
- Section 144 of the CGST Act, 2017: presumption as to documents in certain cases
- Section 35 of the CGST Act, 2017: accounts and other records
References
- Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 145. Admissibility of micro films, facsimile copies of documents and computer printouts as documents and as evidence". Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, CBIC tax information portal, with amendment footnotes 1 to 1. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
External links
- CGST Act, 2017, Section 145 on the CBIC tax information portal