Referable questions of law on deferred annuity deduction required High Court consideration under income-tax reference procedure.

Questions arising from the Tribunal's order on the allowability of deduction for premium paid on deferred annuity policies for managing directors under section 40A(5) were treated as referable questions of law under section 256(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Supreme Court did not express any view on the merits of the tax issue, but held that the effect of the earlier decision relied on by the High Court and the deduction question themselves required consideration by the High Court. The Revenue's applications for reference were accordingly allowed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the questions arising from the Tribunal's order were questions of law requiring reference to the High Court under section 256(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The questions concerned the allowability of deduction under section 40A(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in respect of premium paid for deferred annuity policies for managing directors, and the effect of the earlier decision relied upon by the High Court. The Court held that it was unnecessary to express any opinion on the merits of the tax question, but the issues plainly involved questions of law and required consideration by the High Court.

Conclusion: The questions were held to be referable questions of law, and the Revenue's applications for reference were allowed.

---