TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (10) TMI 1140
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.... West Bengal Goods and Services Act, 2017, within a period of thirty days from the date of communication of this Ruling, or within such further time as mentioned in the proviso to Section 100 (2) of the GST Act. Every such appeal shall be filed in accordance with Section 100 (3) of the GST Act and the Rules prescribed thereunder, and the Regulations prescribed by the West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling Regulations, 2018. 1. Admissibility of the Application 1 .1 The Applicant is one of the co-owners of immovable property, jointly owned by three individuals. All three co-owners, including the Applicant, hold an equal share in the property. The property is let out to CGST & CX, Chandannagar Division (hereinafter the central authority).....
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....is share in the immovable property and the income tax authority assesses him separately on the income so received. Merely because several persons jointly own an immovable property they cannot, therefore, be treated as 'an association of persons or a body of individuals. 2.2 The co-owners, including the Applicant, have not been considered 'an association of persons or a body of individuals' for the purpose of Income Tax. These co-owners have not formed any association to provide taxable service. 2.3 The Applicant refers to the apex court's verdict in Indira Balkrishna [1960 (4) TMI 7 (SC)], where the court explores what constitutes an association of persons within the meaning of section 3 of the Income Tax Act. It is held that an associati....
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....ns will be applicable on individual earnings of the co-owners who are participants in a jointly held property. 2.7 The Applicant also argues that the clarification of the central authority (refer to para 1.3 above), whereby the Applicant and other co-owners of the property are treated as an association of persons, is based on an inadequate understanding of the law. It relies on Jaswant Singh Mann [2016 (45) STR 62 (P&H)] = 2015 (10) TMI 2514 - PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT, where the vires of section 65B (37) of the Finance Act, 2012 is challenged. The petitioner insists that the word 'person', which includes 'an association of persons or body of individuals' is contrary to section 3(42) of the General Clauses Act, 1897 and section 26 of the....
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....97. 3.4 Section 26 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 prohibits the assessment of the co-owners of a property consisting of buildings or buildings and land appurtenant thereto as an association of individuals if their respective shares in the property are definite and ascertainable. Shares of each such persons in the income from the property as computed in accordance with sections 22 to 25 shall be included in his total income. Section 3(42) of the General Clauses Act, 1897 defines the term 'person' for itself and for all Central Acts and Regulations to be made thereafter, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context. It defines a 'person' to include any company or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not. 3.5 The High Co....
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....herefore, indivisible. It cannot be provided if one single co-owner recedes from the agreement for renting the property. The service provided flows along with the property leased to the tenant and, therefore, the co-owners have to be considered as an association of persons. Income from such renting is assessed under the Income Tax Act, 1961 at the hand of each co-owner separately is not the sufficient reason to conclude that they are to be assessed separately for service tax as well. Law and practice under the IT Act should not be applied to decide a matter under the Service Tax. 3.9 The Tribunal observes that whether the individual co-owners are eligible for the threshold for exemption has been decided in Vishrambhai Patel (supra). In Sar....
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....e family or inherited by operation of law, it cannot be considered as an association of persons. The levy of service tax on renting of immovable property is on the income received from the service provided. The co-owner can lease only that part of the property belonging to him. 3.12 In Jaswant Singh Mann (supra) the Tribunal observes that the High Court only considered the vires of the newly introduced section 65B(37)(vii) of the Finance Act, 2012 and the amendment was held to be valid. It has no further relevance or bearing to the present context than deciding the constitutional validity of the enactment. 3.13 The Applicant's case is similar to the ones the Tribunal has discussed above. The Applicant, along with the other co-owners, join....