1957 (10) TMI 38

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.... be decided was whether the commissioner had properly interpreted and properly applied these words to the facts of this case. The commissioner took the view that there was no direction in these words to take capital losses into account. The Court of Appeal thought that there was. It will be seen from what follows in this judgment that a decision upon this point was not necessary to the decision of this case. It appears from the statement filed with the memorandum of appeal and from the judgments in the courts below that before the High Court (and presumably before the commissioner and the Local Committee) the respondent relied upon a balance sheet and a profit and loss account for the year ending December 31, 1950, to establish that the ....

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....to which it related was a failure. This was the only material relied on by the respondent to establish his case in the courts below. Accepting his statement that there had been a loss on the first item, the balance sheet does not reveal the value of the assets of the company. The figures set against the items of assets are their "cost loss depreciation" and not market value. With regard to the item "No. 2 Account" in the balance sheet the Court of Appeal said:-- "The company has two mines of which one is worthless. A large sum spent on that worthless mine has been lost and is being written off. The other mine is working and producing profits. A large sum spent on developing it is rightly regarded as an asset; but no attempt has been made to....

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....for the reasons already given, unnecessary for their Lordships to decide whether the commissioner should under section 21 take capital losses into account. But their Lordships will consider it as it has been fully argued and a decision upon it would be helpful in the future application of the section. The word "loss" is defined in the Ordinance thus in section 2:-- "2. In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires......... 'loss' in relation to a trade, business, profession or vocation means loss computed in like manner as profits." It is common ground that if this meaning is given to the word "loss" it would bear the meaning it does in every other part of the Ordinance and would not include a loss of capital.....