2011 (7) TMI 795 - AT - Income Tax

Trust's Appeal Partially Allowed, Exemption Denied, Eligible for Benefits

The ITAT partially allowed the appeal, ruling that the Trust did not qualify for exemption under Section 10(23C)(iiiae) due to not existing solely for ... Exemption u/s 11 - the activities of the medical college were not started - It is an undisputed fact that Section 10(23C)(iiiae) of the Act is applicable in case the correct annual receipts of such hospital or institution did not exceed Rs. 1.00 crore - Held that: the receipts which are forming part of the corpus of the trust are not to be included for the purpose of Section 11 of the Act and it is not mentioned in Section 12 of the Act that such receipts will also be excluded for the purpose of Section 10(23C)(iiiae) of the Act - It is also a well established law that entries in the books are not conclusive and one has to be see the transactions as per provisions of the Act - Held that: if the assessee is not entitled to exemption u/s 10(23C)(iiiae) then it will not be a bar in not claiming benefit u/s 11 to 13 of I.T. Act - Decided in favor of the assessee Regarding depreciation - assessee has not got the approval for the medical college - Held that: it cannot be said that medical college building can be considered for the passive use for the hospital because there was no approval in respect of the institution of running medical college. Issues involved:1. Interpretation of provisions of Section 10(23C)(iiiae) of the Income Tax Act for assessing exemption eligibility.2. Consideration of donations towards corpus of a trust for calculating annual receipts under Section 10(23C)(iiiae).3. Determination of eligibility for exemption under Section 11 to 13 of the Income Tax Act if not covered under Section 10(23C)(iiiae).4. Disallowance of depreciation on a medical college building due to passive use without approval from the Medical Council of India.Detailed Analysis:Issue 1: Interpretation of Section 10(23C)(iiiae) for exemption eligibilityThe assessee Trust appealed against the CIT(A)'s order, claiming exemption under Section 10(23C)(iiiae) for hospital receipts. The Trust argued that even though the medical college was not operational during the assessment year, the receipts were below Rs. 1.00 crore, making them eligible for the exemption. However, the CIT(A) held that the Trust did not qualify under Section 10(23C)(iiiae) as it did not exist solely for educational purposes. The ITAT further analyzed the provisions and held that donations towards the corpus of the trust should not be included in calculating receipts for the purpose of exemption under Section 10(23C)(iiiae).Issue 2: Consideration of donations towards corpus for calculating receiptsThe ITAT examined the treatment of donations towards the corpus of the trust under Section 12(1) of the Act. It was emphasized that such donations should not be included for determining eligibility under Section 10(23C)(iiiae). The ITAT referred to legal precedents to clarify that the deeming provisions should not extend to include corpus donations in calculating annual receipts for exemption purposes.Issue 3: Eligibility for exemption under Section 11 to 13The Trust contended that even if not covered under Section 10(23C)(iiiae), they should be eligible for exemption under Sections 11 to 13 of the Income Tax Act since they were a registered trust under Section 12A. The ITAT agreed, stating that denial of exemption under Section 10(23C)(iiiae) does not preclude the Trust from claiming benefits under Sections 11 to 13, and directed the AO to provide the necessary benefit to the assessee.Issue 4: Disallowance of depreciation on medical college buildingThe second ground of appeal focused on the disallowance of depreciation on the medical college building due to passive use without approval from the Medical Council of India. The ITAT upheld the disallowance, stating that passive use could only be considered if the medical college had approval and was ready for operation. Without such approval, the building could not be deemed to be used for the business or profession, especially since the hospital and medical college were distinct units.In conclusion, the ITAT partially allowed the appeal of the assessee, addressing the various issues related to exemption eligibility under Section 10(23C)(iiiae), treatment of corpus donations, entitlement to benefits under Sections 11 to 13, and the disallowance of depreciation on the medical college building.