Annual net profits for cess include royalty from coal mines, as profits of the property as a whole.

Royalty received by a coal mine proprietor was treated as part of the mine's annual net profits for cess under Bengal Act IX of 1880. Reading Sections 6, 72, 76, 80 and 81 together, the expression "annual net profits" was construed to mean the profits of the property as a whole, not merely the profits of the person working the mine. The statutory return functioned only as a method of ascertaining those profits, and royalty receipts did not fall outside the profits attributable to the mine. Accordingly, such royalty was validly included in the cess assessment.

---

---

Issues: Whether royalty received by the proprietor of coal mines formed part of the "annual net profits" chargeable to cess under Bengal Act IX of 1880.

Analysis: The relevant provisions assessed cess on the annual value of lands and on the annual net profits from mines and other immovable property. Reading Sections 6, 72, 76, 80 and 81 together, the expression "annual net profits" was held to refer to the profits of the property as a whole and not merely to the profits of the person working the mine. The return required by the Act was only a mode of ascertaining the net profits of the property, and the fact that the owner received royalty did not exclude that receipt from the profits attributable to the mine.

Conclusion: Royalty receivable by the proprietor was part of the net annual profits of the mine and was validly included in the cess assessment.

---