Questions of fact in tax assessment defeat reference where repair and depreciation disputes depend on evidence and account particulars.

Whether expenditure on a cargo fleet was current repairs deductible under the income-tax provision, or partly capital expenditure, and whether depreciation could be computed without adequate particulars of prime cost, were treated as questions of fact rather than questions of law. The court held that both issues depended on degree, surrounding circumstances, and the adequacy of the materials furnished to the income-tax authorities. Because the assessee had failed to supply proper accounts and the evidentiary deficiency arose from his own omission, the dispute could not be transformed into a referable question of law under section 66(3). The attempt to invoke section 45 of the Specific Relief Act was unnecessary, and the reference application failed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the questions proposed by the assessee under section 66(3) were questions of law or only questions of fact, and whether the refusal to refer them to the High Court could be interfered with.

Analysis: The dispute on repairs turned on whether the expenditure on the cargo fleet was current repairs deductible under section 10 or partly capital expenditure, and the dispute on depreciation turned on whether adequate particulars of prime cost were necessary before any allowance could be computed. The Court held that both matters depended on degree, surrounding facts, and the adequacy of the materials placed before the income-tax authorities. Since the assessee had not supplied proper accounts and the insufficiency of evidence arose from his own omission, the matter could not be converted into a question of law for reference under section 66(3). The invocation of section 45 of the Specific Relief Act was therefore unnecessary.

Conclusion: The alleged questions were questions of fact and not questions of law, and the application for a rule under section 66(3) failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A dispute as to whether expenditure is current repairs or capital expenditure, and whether depreciation can be allowed on the available materials, is ordinarily a question of fact for the income-tax authorities; a reference under section 66(3) lies only where a genuine question of law arises.

---