Post-death receipts not accrued during lifetime are not taxable in the legal representative's hands under income-tax law.

Amounts received after an assessee's death are not assessable in the hands of the legal representative under section 24B of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 unless they had accrued to the deceased during lifetime. Applying the Supreme Court ruling in Amarchand N. Shroff as later understood in Arvind Bhogilal, the Bombay High Court held that receipts referable to work done before death but not accrued on or before the date of death could not be brought to tax. The amount of Rs. 28,231 was therefore not includible in the assessee's total income.

---

---

Issues: Whether the sum of Rs. 28,231 received after the assessee's death, being referable to work done before death, was includible in the total income under the provisions of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922.

Analysis: The question was governed by the earlier decision applying the Supreme Court ruling in Amarchand N. Shroff, as subsequently understood by the Bombay High Court in Arvind Bhogilal. On that basis, receipts which did not accrue to the deceased on or before the date of death could not be brought to tax in the hands of the legal representative under section 24B of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. The Tribunal's view that the amount received after death but referable to pre-death work was not assessable under section 24B was therefore correct.

Conclusion: The sum of Rs. 28,231 was not liable to be included in the assessee's total income, and the question was answered in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Amounts received after the death of the assessee, which had not accrued to the deceased during his lifetime, are not assessable under section 24B of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922.

---