Contingent income-tax refund rights are not property at death and are excluded from the estate for duty purposes.

Advance tax paid under the Income-tax Act is treated as a statutory tax payment, not a deposit creating an immediate refund entitlement. A right to refund arises only when assessment is completed and any excess payment is quantified; until then, the amount remains uncertain and may still give rise to further demand. Where death occurs before assessment, there is no existing enforceable property right in the refund, only a contingent claim. On that basis, the proposed refund was not property in existence at the date of death and was not includible in the estate for estate duty purposes.

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Issues: Whether an income-tax refund arising from assessment completed after the deceased's death was includible in the estate as property passing on death.

Analysis: Advance tax paid under the Income-tax Act is a statutory tax payment and not a deposit or payment on account. A right to refund does not arise merely because the deceased may have overpaid tax during the relevant year; it arises only when assessment is completed and the refund, if any, is ascertained. Until assessment, the amount is uncertain and may even result in further demand. On the date of death, therefore, there was no existing enforceable property right to the refund, only a possible future claim. Since the refund was not property in existence at the time of death, it could not be treated as property passing on death under the Estate Duty Act.

Conclusion: The refund was not includible in the estate and the issue was decided in favour of the accountable person.

Ratio Decidendi: A mere contingent or inchoate right to claim an income-tax refund, until it is quantified and becomes legally payable on completion of assessment, is not property existing at the time of death and therefore does not pass on death for estate duty purposes.

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