Separate assessability of related firms turns on intention and interlacing of management, finance, and business circumstances.

Whether two related firms are separate assessable persons depends on the parties' intention as disclosed by the agreement and surrounding circumstances, including the extent of interlacing or interlocking of management, finance and other business incidents. The Court found that the Tribunal had not examined these factual indicators in sufficient detail before treating the concerns as independent entities, so the finding could not be sustained on the material then available. The reference was therefore sent back to the Tribunal for fresh adjudication after proper examination of the relevant circumstances; the question was not finally determined on merits.

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Issues: Whether two firms with common partners, identical profit-sharing ratios and similar business objects were to be treated as separate persons for assessment, and whether the Tribunal had properly examined the surrounding circumstances bearing on the parties' intention.

Analysis: The determination of whether two business concerns are truly separate depends on the intention of the parties, which must be gathered from the agreement and all surrounding circumstances, including the extent of interlacing or interlocking of management, finance and other incidents of the businesses. The record showed that the Tribunal had not analysed these aspects in sufficient detail before concluding that the firms were independent entities. Since the relevant factual matrix bearing on intention had not been fully examined, the finding could not be sustained on the material before the Court.

Conclusion: The matter required reconsideration by the Tribunal after a proper examination of the relevant circumstances; the question referred was not finally answered on merits.

Final Conclusion: The reference was sent back for fresh adjudication in accordance with the stated legal test governing the identity of business concerns.

Ratio Decidendi: Whether related business concerns are separate assessable entities depends on the parties' intention as revealed by the agreement and surrounding circumstances, including interlacing of management and finance.

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