Agricultural land character for wealth tax depends on surrounding facts, not assessment labels or non-agricultural permission.

Land assessed as agricultural and not yet converted for non-agricultural use may still fall outside the wealth-tax exemption if its character has changed. The decisive enquiry is the land's general nature, judged from surrounding circumstances such as location, development, past use, and the owner's conduct; actual cultivation strongly supports agricultural character, but assessment records and lack of conversion permission are only relevant factors, not conclusive. Here, the plots lay in a fully residential town-planning area, had not been cultivated for years, and one had been bought at a high price in a developed locality, so they were not agricultural land and were includible in net wealth.

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Issues: Whether the plots situated in a residential and town-planning area, though assessed as agricultural land and not yet put to non-agricultural use, were agricultural lands within the meaning of the Wealth-tax Act and therefore exempt from inclusion in net wealth.

Analysis: The expression "agricultural land" in the exemption provision had to receive its ordinary meaning, having regard to the constitutional restriction on Parliament's power to tax agricultural land. Where land is actually in agricultural use, that use is ordinarily a strong indicator of its character. Where land is lying idle, however, the decisive enquiry is not mere physical capability of being used for agriculture, but its general nature and character, judged from all relevant circumstances such as location, surrounding development, physical features, past use, the owner's conduct, and the way the land is ordinarily likely to be used. Assessment for agricultural purposes and absence of permission for non-agricultural use are relevant factors, but they are not conclusive. On the facts, the plots were in a fully residential area within a town-planning scheme, had ceased to be cultivated for many years, and one plot had been purchased at a high rate in that developed locality. These circumstances showed that the lands had ceased to bear the character of agricultural lands.

Conclusion: The plots were not agricultural lands within the meaning of the exemption, and their value was rightly included in the wealth-tax assessment.

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