Casual and non-recurring receipt was not taxable as income because it was not business income from a definite source.

A receipt is not taxable as income where it is not a periodical return from a definite source and does not arise from business, profession, vocation or occupation. On the facts, the auctioneer's commission was treated as a relief connected with the sale, not as commercial income earned by the assessee in any organised activity. It was therefore not income accruing or arising as business income, and in any event its casual and non-recurring character brought it within the exemption for such receipts under the Income-tax Act, 1922.

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Issues: Whether the sum of Rs. 1,04,000 described as auctioneer's commission was liable to income-tax as income accruing and arising in British India, or was exempt as a casual and non-recurring receipt not arising from business, profession, vocation or occupation.

Analysis: Income under the Income-tax Act denotes a periodical monetary return coming in with some regularity or expected regularity from a definite source, and excludes a mere windfall. Applying that principle, the receipt in question was not earned in the course of any business carried on by the assessee, nor in the exercise of a profession, vocation or occupation. The assessee was one of the debenture holders, and the allowance made by the Court was in substance a relief granted in the circumstances of the sale, not a commercial return from an organised source. Even if the concession were treated as a receipt, it was not by way of business income and was of a casual and non-recurring character.

Conclusion: The sum of Rs. 1,04,000 was not taxable as income under Section 4(1), and in any event was exempt under Section 4(3)(vii) of the Income-tax Act, 1922.

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