Definition of Company under income-tax law: lack of presidential extension for Sikkim entities excludes them from corporate tax status, favouring AOP assessment.

Whether an entity incorporated under the Sikkim Registration of Companies Act qualifies as a 'company' for income-tax purposes turns on constitutional and statutory scope: Article 371F and the lack of a presidential notification extending the Indian Companies Act to Sikkim mean the central definition does not automatically apply. Applying that principle and prior Tribunal precedent, the assessee incorporated under the Sikkim Act was not treated as a company for the relevant assessment year; consequential corporate tax provisions and disallowances predicated on company status were therefore inapplicable and the appeal succeeded for the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the assessee is to be assessed in the status of a 'Company' or in the status of 'an Association of Persons' for Assessment Year 2013-14.

Analysis: The Tribunal examined the statutory definition of "company" in Section 2(22A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the constitutional and statutory context governing enactments in Sikkim. The assessee was incorporated under the Registration of Companies Act, Sikkim, 1961. Article 371F of the Constitution of India and the absence of any presidential notification extending the Indian Companies Act to Sikkim mean that a company incorporated under the Sikkim Act does not automatically fall within the definition of "company" under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Tribunal relied on its earlier decision in Signotrom (Sikkim) Pvt. Ltd. which held that, absent extension of the Indian Companies Act to Sikkim by presidential notification, entities incorporated under the Sikkim Act may not be treated as companies for the purposes of the Income-tax Act. The Assessing Officer's treatment of the assessee as a company and consequent invocation of Section 115JB and disallowance under Section 14A/read with Rule 8D was therefore examined in that statutory framework.

Conclusion: The assessee is to be assessed in the status of an Association of Persons and not as a Company; the appeal is allowed in favour of the assessee.

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