1981 (8) TMI 95 - AT - Income Tax

Trust capital gains taxable in trustee's hands, not beneficiary's per trust deed provisions.

The Tribunal ruled that capital gains realized by a trust were not taxable in the hands of the sole beneficiary but in the hands of the trustees. The ... - Issues:1. Taxability of capital gains realized by a trust in the hands of the sole beneficiary.2. Interpretation of trust deed provisions regarding the treatment of sale proceeds from trust investments.3. Application of relevant legal precedents to determine tax liability on capital gains.Analysis:1. The appeal concerns the taxability of capital gains amounting to Rs. 2,29,062 realized by a trust in the hands of the sole beneficiary for the assessment year 1975-76. The Revenue contended that the capital gains should be taxable in the hands of the beneficiary, who is the sole beneficiary of the trust. The Income Tax Officer (ITO) argued that since the beneficiary had wide powers under the trust deed and the trust had the discretion to change investments, the income from capital gains should be taxable in the hands of the beneficiary. The ITO relied on the definition of 'income' under the Income Tax Act, which includes capital gains chargeable under section 45. The ITO equated the trustee and the sole beneficiary, leading to the tax liability on the beneficiary.2. The assessee, being aggrieved, appealed to the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) (CIT(A)), arguing that as per the trust deed provisions, the sale proceeds from trust investments were to be credited to the trust corpus, and the beneficiary had no interest in these proceeds. The CIT(A) accepted this contention and held that the capital gains realized by the trustees were not taxable in the hands of the beneficiaries. The CIT(A) found that the trustees were liable to tax on the capital gains, and a separate return was already filed for the same.3. The Revenue Department, dissatisfied with the CIT(A) decision, relied on a Supreme Court decision and contended that the trustees and beneficiaries were the same persons in this case. The Revenue argued that the concept of income under the Income Tax Act was broad enough to include capital gains. However, the representative of the assessee referred to clause 7 of the trust deed, stating that the realizations from investments were to be added to the trust corpus and the beneficiary had no right over them. The representative emphasized that the income from capital gains should be understood in a normal context and not as per the artificial definition under the Income Tax Act.4. The Tribunal referred to a decision of the Gujarat High Court in a similar case and held that the capital gains received by the trustees were not assessable in the hands of the beneficiary. The Tribunal concluded that as per the trust deed, the realizations on investments formed part of the trust corpus, and therefore, the income from capital gains would be taxable in the hands of the trustees and not the beneficiary. Consequently, the Tribunal confirmed the CIT(A) order and dismissed the appeal.