Brick-field excavation rights are capital in nature, so the value of earth removed is not deductible as business expenditure.

Rights in a brick-field land that include the power to excavate earth are treated as capital assets akin to the working rights in a mine or quarry. The earth removed is part of the undertaking's fixed capital structure, not circulating capital or trading stock, so its value cannot be claimed as a deduction in computing profits. The claim that the value of earth extracted and used in brick manufacture was allowable as business expenditure or depreciation was rejected; the amount was held to be capital expenditure and therefore not deductible.

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Issues: Whether the value of earth extracted from a brick-field and used in manufacturing bricks was deductible as business expenditure or depreciation, or was capital expenditure not allowable in computing profits.

Analysis: The landholder or lessee of a brick-field is not merely purchasing raw materials for manufacture. The rights acquired in the land include the right to dig out earth, and the amount paid for such rights is analogous to the capital invested in working a mine or quarry. The earth taken out is part of the fixed capital structure of the undertaking, not circulating capital or trading stock, and the supposed value of the earth removed cannot be treated as an allowable deduction from profits.

Conclusion: The claim for deduction was rejected. The value of the earth dug out and used in manufacturing bricks was capital expenditure and not deductible as depreciation or business expenditure.

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