House property income classification prevails where commercial letting with incidental amenities does not amount to business income.

Rental receipts from letting out commercial premises with incidental amenities were assessable as income from house property, not as business income, because the assessee carried on no independent business activity in relation to the receipts. The character of the income had to be determined from the source of the receipt and the true nature of the letting, rather than from the object clause or general business description of the assessee. Applying the rule that income falling within a specific statutory head must be assessed under that head, the Court treated the provision of incidental services as insufficient to change the character of the rental income. The assessment under the house property head was therefore upheld.

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Issues: Whether income derived from letting out commercial property with amenities and services was assessable as business income or as income from house property.

Analysis: The assessee had let out premises and had not carried on any independent business activity in relation to the receipts. The nature of the receipt had therefore to be determined from the source of income and the true character of the letting, not from the assessee's object clause or general business description. Applying the settled principle that where income falls within a specific head under the Act it must be assessed under that head, the Court held that mere provision of incidental amenities did not alter the character of rental receipts. The authorities relied on the distinction between exploitation of business assets and mere exploitation of property by an owner, and followed the earlier decision in the assessee's own case.

Conclusion: The income was rightly assessed under the head income from house property and not as business income.

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