Combined family business income may be assessed as one unit in the hands of the person carrying it on.

Section 40 was treated as a machinery provision for representative assessment of trustees or guardians, not as an exclusive charging provision. Where the properties of several persons were pooled and one business was carried on with combined resources, the business could be regarded as a single business under Section 3 and assessed in the hands of the person actually carrying it on on behalf of the group. The fact that the beneficial interests were divided between a widow and minor children did not require separate assessments on their respective shares, because the income arose from one business carried on as a unit.

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Issues: Whether, on the facts stated, the income arising from the business carried on with the combined resources of the widow and her children was assessable as one business in the hands of the person carrying it on, or whether separate assessments were required on the respective shares of the heirs; and whether the machinery in relation to trustees or guardians prevented assessment under the charging provision.

Analysis: Section 40 was treated as a machinery provision and not a charging provision. It enabled assessment of trustees or guardians in a representative capacity, but did not compel the revenue to proceed only under that section or bar assessment where the facts otherwise justified assessment under Section 10(1). Where properties of several persons are put together and one business is carried on with the combined resources, the business may be regarded as a single business carried on by an association of individuals within Section 3. The circumstance that the ultimate beneficial interests are split among a widow and minor children does not prevent assessment of the business income in the hands of the person who actually carries on the business on behalf of the group.

Conclusion: The income was rightly treated as arising from one business assessable in the hands of Mrs. Saldhana, and separate assessments on the heirs were not required.

Ratio Decidendi: Where one business is carried on with the combined resources of several persons, the revenue may assess the business income as a single business in the hands of the person carrying it on, and the representative machinery for trustees or guardians does not exclude assessment under the charging provision.

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