TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2005 (9) TMI 59
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....e of the deceased before distribution of the assets is an admissible deduction, although the executor of the estate happens to be the sole legal heir of the deceased?" The Department sought reference of the said question in the following circumstances: The assessee was assessed to the wealth-tax, it is not disputed, in her individual capacity as also as an executor of the estate of her husband, the late Shri Anandrao Paur. The relevant valuation date for the assessment year under consideration was March 31, 1982. During the assessment proceedings, the assessee claimed that for the payment of estate duty, the executor of the estate of the deceased in her personal capacity, had advanced a loan of Rs. 4,71,589 to the estate and, accordin....
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.... ITR 850 (Bom); CIT v. Mrs. A. Ghosh [1986] 159 ITR 124 (Cal) and CIT v. Bakshi Sampuran Singh [1982] 133 ITR 650 (P&H) and upheld the claim for deduction of Rs. 4,71,589. Being aggrieved, the Revenue made an application for reference of the abovesaid question and hence, the case has been referred to this court. Learned senior counsel for the respondent has raised a preliminary question to the maintainability of the reference. His objection is that in view of the direction of the Central Board of Direct Taxes to the effect that in the matters not involving revenue above Rs. 30,000, reference should not be made, this case should not have been referred, and the reference deserves to be dismissed at the threshold without answering the qu....
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....nal has proceeded on the assumption, that a sum of Rs. 4,71,589 was expended on taxes, etc., to make the property of her late husband free from liability. Learned counsel for the assessee has submitted, that as an executor under section 19A, the liability will have to be adjudged in the hands of the executor only after the estate is fully administered. In this regard, he has referred to the decision reported in Navnit Lal Sakarlal v. CIT [1992] 193 ITR 16 (SC) and invited attention to the passage which reads as under: "Younger L.J. (afterwards Lord Blanesborough) in Barnardo's Homes v. Special Income-tax Commissioners [1921] 2 AC 1, stated the law in these terms: 'Until the residue is ascertained, and until its existence as net res....
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....fter the estate has been fully administered and the residue becomes available to the individual. We may here refer to section 19A of the Wealth-tax Act: "19A. (1) Subject as hereinafter provided, the net wealth of the estate of a deceased person shall be chargeable to tax in the hands of the executor or executors. (2) The executor or executors shall for the purposes of this Act be treated as an individual. (3) The status of the executor or executors shall for the purposes of this Act as regards residence and citizenship be the same as that of the deceased on the valuation date immediately preceding his death. (4) The assessment of an executor under this section shall be made separately from any assessment that may be made on him....