For a private discretionary trust taxed at the maximum marginal...

For a private discretionary trust taxed at the maximum marginal rate, surcharge is not automatically leviable at the highest rate. The Tribunal read section 2(29C) of the Income-tax Act with the surcharge slabs and thresholds in the relevant Finance Act Schedule, and held that the maximum marginal rate incorporates those Finance Act conditions. It rejected the view that surcharge must always be added merely because the entity is taxed at the maximum marginal rate, since that would defeat the surcharge thresholds and produce an absurd result. As the trust's total income was below the prescribed threshold, no surcharge was payable and the Assessing Officer was directed to recompute tax without surcharge.

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