TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (1) TMI 868
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...., inter alia, to provide secondary education in the State of Odisha by preparing course for education in secondary preuniversity stage and to conduct examination for those, who have completed prescribed courses of study and to award certificates to successful candidates and also performing other statutory duties incidental thereto. Therefore, establishment of Board is only for imparting secondary education throughout the State of Odisha under Section 3 of the Act to regulate control and develop secondary education in the State of Odisha. 3. The word 'Education' has been used in Section-2(15) of the Income Tax Act in sense of systematic instruction, schooling or training and not in wide and extended sense according to which every acquisition of further knowledge. Imparting secondary education has never been treated as trade or business and the citizen of the country have a fundamental right of secondary education. Article 21 prescribes that every child/citizen of this country has a right to free education until he completes the age of 14. At the age of 14 one may complete Secondary Education and it is also a duty cast on a State to safeguard fundamental right of citizen which incl....
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....titioner from which Banks have deducted tax. Soon after filing of return, the Income Tax Authorities scrutinized the case and notices under section 142(1) and 143(2) were issued for production of Books of Accounts. 6. In course of assessment proceeding, the assessing officer has also observed that the petitioner should have possessed exemption certificate from the prescribed authority i.e. the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, but the petitioner having not possessed such certificate, failed to satisfy the requirement of the provision of Section 10(23C) (vi) of the I.T. Act. For that reason, on 28.12.2005, the petitioner without prejudice to its right in appeal applied for approval of exemption u/s 10(23C) (vi) of the Income Tax Act. The Chief Commissioner simply slept over the matter and in the meantime, the First Appeal filed by the petitioner before C.I.T. (A), Cuttack was disposed of and it filed a statutory second appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. 7. Learned Tribunal vide order dated 05.09.2006 directed the CCIT to dispose of the application on priority basis preferably within fifteen days. In pursuance of the said order, the CCIT issued notices to the petitio....
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....hing is admitted. The impugned order of the CCIT is a speaking order wherein a detained review of the activities, powers and functions of the Board have been brought out in the body of the order in paragraph-6 (page-2 to 4) and paragraph-16 (page-7) of the CCIT's order. In fact after considering the actual and the authorized activities of the Board CCIT has analyzed the total receipts and expenses of concerned financial year of the Board in paragraph-19 (page-8) of his order and has given a finding that the activities of the institution do not constitute activities solely for educational purpose as per the requirement of law in Sec.10(23C)(vi). In paragraph- 20 and 21 the CCIT has referred to some of the decisions of Hon'ble Supreme Court in this regard and drawn support from them in terms of the facts of this case while drawing the conclusion that the activities are not solely for educational purpose. The CCIT's order is elaborate and speaking wherein all the facts of the case have been considered and relying on the interpretation of the statute by the Apex Court of the land, the finding has been given. 4. That in reply to the averments made in para-1(b) of the writ petition i....
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....he application in form no.56D filed in his office. Against the Assessing Officer's orders for Assessment Years 1999-2000 to 2001-02 the assessee had filed appeal before the CIT(A) who did not given any relief to the assessee vide his order in ITA No.0299/07- 08/on 31.3.2008." 12. Taking into consideration the activities taken by the petitioner's institution, which is responsible for education up to secondary education in the State while carrying out its statutory liability and obligation, the notices issued as at Annexures-1, 2 and 3 describing it to be commercial activities, in our considered opinion, are not sustainable as the issue is covered by the decision of Rajasthan High Court in the case of Rajasthan Hindi Granth Academy -v- Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, reported in 2017 SCC Online 3547, more particularly at paragraphs-16 onwards which is quoted as under: "16. He also relied upon the decision of Supreme Court in Assam State Text Book Production & Publication Corpn. v. CIT, Gauhati (2009) 319 ITR 317 (SC) wherein it has been held as under:- 3. On going through the records, we find that the High Court has not taken into account the prior history of the case, partic....
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.....B.D.T. had also extended benefit of exemption under Section 10(22) of the Act to the Orissa Secondary Board Education, as reported in Secondary Board of Education v. Income Tax Officer, 86 I.T.R. 408. Following these circulars/letters issued by C.B.D.T., the Rajasthan High Court came to the conclusion that the assessee in that case, namely, Rajasthan State Text Book Board, was entitled to claim the benefit of exemption under Section 10(22) of the Act. The operative part of the Rajasthan High Court's judgment reads as under: It is not disputed before us that the aims and objects of the Tamil Nadu Text Book Society and those of the respondent-assessee are almost identical. It is also not shown to us that the surplus amount, if any, of the respondent-assessee, is used for any other purpose or distributed to other members. The Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) as well as the Tribunal have noticed that even if some amount remains surplus, that is utilised only for the purposes of education. Thus, having regard to the concurrent findings of fact recorded by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) and the Tribunal and also taking note of the letter of the Central Board of Dir....
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....se of profit. The object was to carry on the activity of advancement of education which incidentally resulted in profits which in their return were devoted to the cause of education. This being the objection and there being various way of control of the income and expenditure, the Board of Secondary Education could not be said to be existing for purposes of profits. It existed solely for purposes of education. The income of the Board could not, therefore, be computed in the total income of the previous year u/s 10(22). The ITO exercised his 19. He also relied upon the decision of Madhya Pradesh High Court in CIT v. Madhya Pradesh Rajya Pathya Pustak Nigam (2009) 318 ITR 497 (MP) wherein it has been held as under:- 19. From a perusal of the aforesaid decisions, it is lucid that for the entitlement for getting exemption for the assessment year, it is required to see the activities of the assessee. That is the acid test. If the income/profit is applied for non-educational purposes, it is decided only at the end of the financial year. It is to be seen whether the assessee is engaged in any kind of educational activities. The authorities which we have referred to above have laid d....
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....he IT Act, 1961. As the objects of the assessee are not covered under the definition of education, no benefit of exemption u/s 10(23C)(iiiab) can be granted to the assessee. Section 10(23C)(iiiab) clearly says that "10. In computing the total income of a previous year of any income falling within any of the following clauses shall not be included-[(23C) any received by any person on behalf of- [iiiab) any university or other educational institution existing solely for educational purposes and not for purposes of profit and which is wholly or substantially financed by the Government; or..." Hence in light of the above the undersigned and the opinion of the then AO rant it is reported that no exemption u/s 10(23C)(iiiab) should allowed to the assessee. In continuation with the letter dt. 23.12.2013, it is further clarified that the assessee's submission that it should be allowed exemption u/s 10(23C)(iiiab) and 10(23C)(iv) and addition so made by the AO may also be deleted is not correct on the basis of following issues:- 1. The assessee in its return of income has no where claimed exemption u/s 10(23C)(iv) rather it has claimed exemption u/s 10(23C)(iiiab). (copy of comput....
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....ou are liable to be cheated by some unscrupulous person. The thief who removes your wallet and the swindler who cheats you teach you a lesson and in the process make you wiser though poorer. If you visit a night club, your get acquainted with and add to your knowledge about some of the not much revealed realities and mysteries of life. All this in a way is education in the great school of life. But that is not the sense in which the word "education" is used in clause (15) of section 2. What education connotes in that clause is the process of training and developing the knowledge, skill, mind and character of students by formal schooling. 24. He also relied upon the decision of Rajasthan High Court in Commissioner of Income Tax v. Maharaja Sawai Mansinghji Museum Trust reported in 1988 (169) ITR 379 wherein it has been held as under:- 7. It is amply clear from a bare reading of it that the "educational institution" must exist "solely" for educational purposes. "Solely' means exclusively and not primarily. Simply because certain persons may add something to their knowledge by visiting the museum, it cannot be said that the museum exists "solely" for educational purposes. The emph....