A minor child earns income solely from performing music, applying her own talent. How is this income treated under section 99 of the Income-tax Act, 2025?

Section 99(1)(c) clubs a minor child's income with a parent's income, but it excludes income from work done by the child and from activities in which the child's own skill, talent, specialised knowledge or experience is applied. The rule choosing the parent with the greater total income, or the parent who maintains the child, under section 99(5)(b) only decides whose income includes clubbable income; it does not reach income from the child's own talent.