TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1946 (12) TMI 3
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....said to be loans made in the ordinary course of money-lending business as contemplated in Section 10(2)(xi) of the Income-tax Act, so that when such amount became irrecoverable, claim for such irrecoverable amounts may be admissible in computing the assessable income of the assessee." The question formulated arose out of assessment proceedings of the assessee for the years 1942-43 and 1943-44, and although a single reference has been made, it is necessary to state the facts for the year 1942-43 assessment first. The assessee carries on business as a money-lender and also has a large zamindary. When the tenants of the assessee fell in arrears in paying his agricultural rent, he instead of suing them in the civil Courts obtained handno....
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.... In this case the Income-tax Officer has added a further income of ₹ 24,000. I think the sum added by the Income-tax Officer is very high. The so-called omissions and discrepancies as noted by the Income-tax Officer have been satisfactorily explained in most cases. But in the case of Bajrang Prasad Singh ₹ 2,645 interest income has to be taxed. Besides for possible omissions to show interest bearing investment as in the case of documents worth ₹ 67,000 obtained from tenants in lieu of arrear rents a further sum of ₹ 10,000 may be added. There is no excuse for omitting to show investment worth ₹ 67,000 on documents obtained from agricultural tenants. Hence, ₹ 12,645 will have to be added in this case agai....
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....ction of arrear rent there is a new contract and the liability ceases to be rent and becomes a loan. If the Income-tax Officer had taxed the interest on arrear rent under other source the position would have been different but as the income has been taxed under money-lending, I am afraid the position taken by the Income-tax Officer cannot be supported. Therefore ₹ 2,265 will be allowed." It is, therefore, clear that in this year also the Income-tax department actually taxed the assessee on a sum of ₹ 1,293 on account of the interest which accrued due on these investments made with the agricultural tenants and this interest was taken as income from money-lending. In the year 1942-43 which relates to the accounting period M....
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....; 428 on account of interest which accrued due, but as the assessee had shown that he had remitted a larger sum than this amount, no income under this head was taken as a part of the assessable income. This order was passed on the 23rd of March, 1943. The appeal was disposed of by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner on the 27th of February, 1944, and this particular question was discussed at page 18, paragraph 7. He observed that these debts arose out of contracts relating to agricultural matters and the assessee had not shown to him that they had even figured as stock-intrade in the money-lending business being the assessed subject. In this view of the matter he upheld the Income-tax Officer's order disallowing the claim for these bad....
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....idering the Income-tax Officer's assessment order of 1938-39 and the appellate order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, and the 1941-42 appellate order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner they observed at page 2: "It cannot, therefore, be said that these orders are conclusive of the fact that these officers proceeded on the footing that the bonds and pronotes were a part of the appellant's money-lending business after they were taken in lieu of arrears of agricultural rent." Accordingly they have given their opinion that it could hardly be said that the department treated these bonds and promissory notes as ordinary money-lending transactions and, therefore, the department was now debarred from treating them othe....