Intra-head business set-off allowed for partnership losses against individual business profits under the broad meaning of "any business".

Business income was treated as a single head for set-off purposes, and the phrase "any business" was construed to include every business carried on by the same assessee. On that basis, profits from one business could be adjusted against losses from another, whether the businesses were carried on individually or through a partnership. The scheme governing set-off between different heads of income did not restrict this intra-head adjustment, and no exclusion was found for losses from an unregistered partnership business. The assessee was therefore entitled to set off the partnership loss against the profits of the individual business, and the reference was answered in the affirmative.

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Issues: Whether a person carrying on one business individually and another as a partner in an unregistered firm can set off the loss from the partnership business against the profits of his individual business.

Analysis: The relevant provisions treated business income as a single head and did not compel the narrow construction that each business must be assessed in isolation. The expression "any business" in the governing provision was construed to mean each and every business, so that profits of one business could be adjusted against losses of another. No distinction was accepted between business carried on individually and business carried on in partnership for this purpose. The reference to set-off between different heads of income did not control the separate question of adjustment within the business head, and nothing in the scheme of the Act warranted excluding losses from an unregistered partnership business.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to set off the partnership loss against the profits of his individual business, and the answer was in the affirmative.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute taxes income under the head of business, the words "any business" may include all businesses carried on by the same assessee, permitting intra-head set-off of profits and losses, including losses from partnership carried on by the assessee.

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