Voluntary gifts for temple construction were not taxable income, as they were not remuneration for services rendered.

Voluntary payments credited in a joint bank account were not assessable as income from business, profession or vocation because they were found to be personal gifts made by devotees and supporters out of esteem and veneration for constructing a temple. Mere receipt of money by a person carrying on a vocation does not make every receipt taxable, and where the receipt is said to fall outside the charging provision, the burden is on the revenue to prove that it is income. On the evidence, the contributors were not paying for teachings or services, so the receipts were held not taxable under section 10.

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Issues: Whether the amounts deposited in the joint bank account were assessable in the hands of the assessee as income arising from business, profession or vocation.

Analysis: The amounts were held to be contributions made by devotees and supporters as personal gifts out of personal regard, esteem and veneration, and for the specific purpose of constructing a temple. Mere receipt of money by a person who may be carrying on a vocation does not make every receipt taxable under section 10. Where the case is that the receipt falls outside the charging provision, the burden lies on the revenue to show that it is income. On the evidence accepted, the contributors had not received the assessee's teachings or services in consideration of the payments, and the Tribunal's approach was inconsistent with the affidavits and materials on record.

Conclusion: The amounts were not taxable as receipts arising from business, profession or vocation, and the question was answered in the negative in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A voluntary payment made as a personal gift out of personal esteem and veneration, and not as remuneration for services rendered in the course of a vocation, is not taxable as income under section 10.

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