Legal representative liability under income tax law extends to penalty for default in paying tax due.

A legal representative assessed under section 24B of the Income-tax Act, 1922 was treated as an assessee for liability and enforcement purposes, so the statutory fiction was not limited to assessment alone. The court held that the distinction between the expressions "assessee" and "every person liable to pay" did not prevent enforcement action, because section 24B created vicarious liability carrying full legal consequences. Accordingly, where the legal representative defaulted in paying the tax due, penalty under section 46(1) was validly attracted. The objection that the orders were made against a dead person was rejected because they were passed against the legal representative himself.

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Issues: Whether, under the Income-tax Act, 1922, a legal representative assessed under section 24B can be penalised under section 46(1) for failure to pay the tax demanded, and whether section 24B confines the legal representative's liability so as to exclude such penalty.

Analysis: The petitioner's objection that the penalty orders were made against a dead person was rejected, as the impugned orders were passed against the petitioner himself. On the substantive issue, the legal representative, though assessed under section 24B on the income of the deceased, was held to be an assessee under the Act for the purposes of liability and enforcement. The distinction between provisions using the words "assessee" and "every person liable to pay" was treated as not controlling, since the Act uses the term "assessee" in varying senses and section 24B creates a vicarious liability that carries its full legal consequences. The scope of the legal fiction in section 24B was not confined to assessment alone. The liability created by that provision extended to enforcement measures, including penalty under section 46(1), where the default was that of the legal representative in paying the tax due.

Conclusion: A legal representative assessed under section 24B can validly be penalised under section 46(1) for default in payment of tax, and section 24B does not exclude such liability.

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