TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1990 (6) TMI 57
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....-fee of Rs. 8,42,709.50 is deductible under section 50 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, from the estate duty payable and not only so much of it as relatable to the properties or portions thereof actually brought to tax under the provisions of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 ? (2) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in holding that relief under section 50 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, has to be allowed if court fees are paid in respect of the property which is exempt from payment of estate duty under section 33 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 ? (3) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal erred in law in allowing relief under section 50 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953,....
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....Shri Dastur stated that we might assume for the purpose of this reference that the difference could be due to (1) valuation of certain movable or immovable properties, and (2) some items of properties being fully or partly exempt under section 33. Placing, reliance on the Andhra Pradesh High Court decision in the case of Gunda Bhaskara Rao v. CED [1968] 67 ITR 309 and the Karnataka High Court decision in the case of S. N. Parthasarathy v. CED [1979] 120 ITR 408, Shri Jetley submitted that the Assistant Controller was fully justified in allowing deduction on account of probate court-fee paid by the assessee in proportion to the properties on which the estate duty was actually levied. It was Shri Jetley's submission that if a particular it....
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....o estate of deceased.-Where any fees have been paid under any law relating to court-fees in force in any State for obtaining probate, letters of administration or a succession certificate in respect of any property on which estate duty is leviable under this Act, the amount of the estate duty payable shall be reduced by an amount which is equal to the court-fees so paid." The deduction is provided in respect of court-fees which are paid in respect of any property on which estate duty is leviable. But the deduction is from the estate duty payable. Section 5 which is a charging section provides that estate duty shall be leviable and paid upon the principal value of all properties, whether settled or not, passing on the death of such person....
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....d that it was not possible to apportion the court-fee payable for obtaining a succession certificate and the court-fee payable on the property on which estate duty was not payable. In any event, as stated by us above, the facts in the present case are different and none of the three decisions are, therefore, applicable in this case. All the same, as rightly pointed out by Shri Dastur, the ratio of the Andhra Pradesh High Court decision supports the view taken by the Tribunal. This is evident from the following observations made by the court in the penultimate paragraph of the judgment (p. 314) : "In this view, the other contention that because the word 'leviable' is used in section 50, estate duty is leviable on the entire value of the e....