TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1938 (1) TMI 21
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....9;s son who by virtue of his relationship is regarded as the prospective heir to the estate. He has no right to the estate during the lifetime of Rani Ram Kunwar Sahiba but a right of reversion on her death. In view of this fact the assessment is in respect of a maintenance allowance which, at Rs. 541-8-0 a month, works out to Rs. 6,498. This allowance the Income Tax Officer assessed along with other income to income tax for the year in dispute. A copy of the assessment order is annexed as Appendix A. Dissatisfied with the assessment, the assessee appealed to the Assistant Commissioner contending (i) that the allowance was paid to him as a member of a Hindu undivided family and was in consequence exempt under Sec. 14(1) of the Act, and (ii) that it was also exempt as agricultural income. The Assistant Commissioner overruled both the contentions and dismissed the appeal. A copy of his appellate order will be found in Appendix B. The assessee has now presented an application demanding a reference under Sec. 66(2) unless I cancel the assessment. I am at one with the officers below and unable to comply with the assessee's request under Sec. 33. 3. Question for the Decision of th....
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.... Income tax, Central and United Provinces. The facts as found by the revenue authorities, may be summarised:- The Ausanganj Estate is under the superintendence of the Court of Wards, Ghazipur. The proprietor of the estate and the ward is Mst. Rani Dulhin Ram Kunwar, who is the widow of Babu Sri Narain Singh, the last male owner of the estate. The assessee is Babu Kedar Narain Singh, the daughter's son of the Rani and he by virtue of his relationship is regarded as the prospective heir to the estate. He has been assessed to income tax for the year ending the 31st March 1934 on an income of Rs. 6,498 along with other income about which there is no dispute. It is, however, said that the sum mentioned above ought not to have been included in the income of the assessee for the year in dispute. This amount is paid to him under Sec. 25 of the Court of Wards Act. That provision reads as follows:- "The Court of Wards may from time to time determine what sums shall be allowed in respect of the expenses of any ward and of his family and dependants." and the contention of the assessee is that the ....
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.... with the omnibus sub-heading of 'other sources', and all that could be said there was that 'other sources' included "income, profits and gains of every kind and from every source to which this Act applies". It is, therefore, clear that the word 'income' is an expression of elastic ambit, and courts when considering whether any particular sum can be said to be the income of an assessee have attempted either to bring it in, or to exclude it from, a certain description which they have chosen to give to the word 'income', but they have always qualified the said description by saying that it is not exhaustive. It is, however, clear that the words "income, profits and gains" used in the Act are used in a disjunctive sense, and the word 'income' is not limited by the words "profits and gains". As observed by their Lordships of the Privy Council in the case of Maharaja Kumar Gopal Saran Narain Singh v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Bihar and Orissa, "anything which can properly be described as income is taxable under the Act unless expressly exempted ". That perhaps is the best definition, although it may be said to be tautologous. There can be no ....
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....come, but this contention was not advanced before us. The assessee is only a reversioner of the estate and not the owner thereof during the lifetime of the present incumbent, and the allowance having been paid out of the agricultural and taxed income of the estate may be taxed again when it passes from the owner of the estate to the assessee, for in his hands the character of the income has been changed. If it is treated as a gift, it would be liable to tax and would not be exempted under Sec. 4(3)(vii), because it is not an isolated gift and is not an income of a casual and non-recurring nature, but is a gift of a periodical and regular kind, even if it be said to be made to the assessee by the ward out of considerations of love and relationship. The chief contention that is advanced before us is that the assessee can claim exemption under Sec. 14(1) of the Act which says that the tax shall not be payable by an assessee in respect of any sum which he receives as a member of a Hindu undivided family. In this connection we have to consider whether the assessee can be treated as a member of a Hindu undivided family. Ordinarily, a married daughter is not a member of the family of h....