Spouse remuneration from genuine work is not clubbed with the other spouse's income when based on experience and competence.

Remuneration paid to an assessee's spouse was held not to be includible under section 64(1)(ii) where the payment arose from the spouse's own experience and competence in staff welfare and administrative work, rather than from the marital relationship. The spouse had previously performed similar work in comparable companies and had been paid for it earlier, showing that the income was genuine remuneration for actual services rendered. On those facts, the clubbing provision did not apply, and the revenue's appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether the remuneration received by the assessee's spouse from the company was liable to be included in the assessee's total income under section 64(1)(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, or was excluded as genuine remuneration for work done on account of her technical or professional qualification.

Analysis: The spouse had prior experience in staff welfare and administrative work in similar companies and had been remunerated for the same kind of work earlier. On the facts, her payment by the company was attributable to her own experience and competence in the same field, and not to her status as the assessee's spouse. The exception in section 64 is intended to exclude genuine remuneration earned for actual work done by the spouse.

Conclusion: The remuneration of the spouse was not includible in the assessee's total income; the revenue's appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a spouse receives remuneration for genuine work done on the basis of experience and competence in the same line of employment, such remuneration is not liable to be clubbed with the other spouse's income under section 64(1)(ii).

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