Wealth-tax liability of a company in liquidation continues until dissolution, with assessment based on net wealth accepted from the return.

A company under a winding-up order continues as a legal person until dissolution, so it remains within the charge to wealth-tax unless the statute expressly excludes it. The making of the winding-up order does not divest ownership of assets or prevent the existence of surplus after liabilities, and the absence of a provision like section 178 of the Income-tax Act does not remove the tax liability. The assessing authority was entitled to assess net wealth on the basis of the return and accepted liabilities without first rechecking the books to prove that assets exceeded liabilities.

---

---

Issues: Whether a company in liquidation remains assessable to wealth-tax during the subsistence of the winding-up proceedings, and whether the assessing authority was required to verify from the books that assets exceeded liabilities before making the assessment.

Analysis: A company subjected to a winding-up order does not cease to exist as a legal entity until it is dissolved. Under the Wealth-tax Act, the definition of company and the charging provision did not exclude a company under winding up. The making of a winding-up order only sets in motion the process leading to dissolution and does not divest the company of ownership of its assets. Such a company may still have surplus assets after meeting liabilities, and the absence of a provision comparable to section 178 of the Income-tax Act did not affect the charge to wealth-tax. Since the assessing authority had already accepted and allowed the liabilities disclosed with the return, no further verification of the books was necessary for the assessment on net wealth.

Conclusion: A company in liquidation remained liable to assessment to wealth-tax for the relevant assessment years, and the assessing authority had jurisdiction to make the assessment on the net wealth without first proving from the books that assets exceeded liabilities.

Ratio Decidendi: A company under a winding-up order continues as a legal person until dissolution, and in the absence of an express statutory exclusion, its net wealth remains chargeable to wealth-tax.

---