Other Liabilities explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
One test decides everything on this line — whether the obligation is a financial liability under Ind AS 32. If it is not, it lands here.
Other non-current liabilities
Classified as advances and others, specifying the nature.
All advances that are not financial liabilities as defined in Ind AS 32 should be classified under other non-current liabilities — the example given being an amount received in advance against goods to be sold or services to be provided.
Others should include items such as:
- statutory dues payable;
- legal claims outstanding; and
- interest payable on unpaid amount to supplier as per the MSMED Act, 2006, if such interest payable is not a contractual obligation under that Act.
A financial liability under Ind AS 32 is broadly a contractual obligation to deliver cash or another financial asset. An advance received against goods to be supplied obliges the company to deliver goods — so it fails the test and falls outside financial liabilities entirely.
That is why the same balance sheet has two homes for money received before performance: contract liabilities where Ind AS 115 governs the arrangement, and other liabilities where the advance is not a financial liability and sits outside that standard's scope.
The mirror image runs on the asset side, where advances that are not financial assets — prepaid expenses, GST input receivable — go to other non-current or other current assets rather than to other financial assets. The Ind AS 32 definition is the pivot on both sides of the balance sheet.
Other current liabilities
Classified as:
- revenue received in advance;
- other advances (specify nature); and
- others (specify nature).
Other advances are those satisfying the requirements for classification as current and not financial liabilities under Ind AS 32 — for example amounts received in advance from customers or other parties against sale of investments or immovable property.
Others includes statutory dues payable and legal claims outstanding, plus liabilities in the nature of statutory dues such as withholding taxes, service tax, VAT, excise duty and goods and services tax.
Deposits that fail the financial liability test
Trade deposits and security deposits which do not meet the definition of financial liabilities should be classified as "Others" grouped under this head.
This is the liability-side counterpart of the security deposits rule on the asset side, where only deposits meeting the Ind AS 109 financial asset definition go under other financial assets and the rest sit in other non-current assets. Deposits are tested, not assumed, in both directions.
The MSMED interest carve-out
Interest payable to a supplier under the MSMED Act sits in other liabilities if such interest payable is not a contractual obligation as per the MSMED Act, 2006.
The qualification matters because MSMED interest accrues by statute rather than by agreement — it is an obligation imposed on the buyer, not one the parties contracted for. Where it is not contractual, it is not a financial liability arising from a contract, and so falls outside financial liabilities.
Guidance by reference
Guidance on disclosure under other current liabilities should be drawn from the guidance given under other non-current liabilities, to the extent applicable — as with several of the current heads, the substantive rules are set out once on the non-current side.
Common mistakes
- Presenting advances against goods as financial liabilities.
- Grouping statutory dues with trade payables.
- Classifying all security deposits received as financial liabilities.
- Leaving "others" unspecified as to nature.