Approved hotel certification covered earlier years, sustaining higher depreciation and development rebate under the Income-tax Act.

A later Government of India tourism certification was treated as covering earlier years for hotel tax benefits, because it expressly stated that the assessee's hotels were on the approved list for the relevant assessment periods from 1968-69 onwards. On that basis, the assessee was held entitled to the higher rate of depreciation and development rebate available to approved hotels under the Income-tax Act, and the date of the approval letter did not defeat the claim for the earlier period.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to the higher rate of depreciation and development rebate for hotels treated as approved hotels for the assessment year 1974-75 on the basis of a later Government approval letter.

Analysis: The Government of India, Department of Tourism, certified that the assessee's hotels had been on the approved list for the purposes of Sections 32(1)(i)(v), 33(1)(b)(B)(ii) and 80B(7) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 during the years relevant from assessment year 1968-69 onwards. The fact that the letter was dated 12/18 July 1974 did not defeat the assessee's claim, since the certification expressly covered the earlier assessment years and supported the claim for the relevant period.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the higher depreciation and development rebate from assessment year 1968-69 onwards, and the Revenue's appeal failed.

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