Registered partnership income taxed only to the extent of the assessee's share where firm registration was final.

Where a business was treated as belonging to a registered partnership firm and the assessee held a 50 per cent share, only that share of the business income could be brought to tax in the assessee's individual assessment. The Income-tax Officer's attempt to assess the entire income was rejected because the firm's registration had become final, and the Tribunal's view that the individual assessment must reflect only the assessee's share was upheld.

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Issues: Whether, for the assessment years 1967-68 and 1968-69, only 50 per cent of the income from the business styled as Moradabad Gun House was includible in the assessee's individual assessment in view of the firm's registration.

Analysis: The business income had originally been returned as the assessee's exclusive income, but a revised return asserted that the business belonged to a partnership firm in which the assessee held a 50 per cent share. The Income-tax Officer rejected that claim and included the full income, while the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and the Tribunal accepted the assessee's position on the basis that registration had been granted to the firm. As the registration issue had become final, the Tribunal's view that only the assessee's share could be assessed was upheld.

Conclusion: Only 50 per cent of the business income was liable to be included in the assessee's hands, and the question was answered in the affirmative, in favour of the assessee.

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