683/CBDT. - Income Tax - 683/CBDT

INSTRUCTION NO. 683/CBDT Dated : April 16, 1974 Section(s) Referred: 5(1)(viii) Statute: Wealth Tax Act, 1957 In terms of Section 5(1)(viii) of the Gift-tax Act, gift-tax shall not be charged in respect of gifts made by any person to his or her spouse subject to a maximum of Rs.50,000 in value in the aggregate in one or more previous years. It is also provided therein that the expression 'spouse', where there are more wives than one, means all the wives together. 2. Two questions arise in this connection, namely:- (i) Whether the term "spouse" can be interpreted to mean spouse even in cases where the donor is the wife and the donee, husband; and (ii) Whether the limit of Rs.50,000 would apply even when more than one spouse do not exist at the same time. 3. The Board are advised that under Section 13 of the General Clauses Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, words in the singular shall include the plural and vice versa. The term spouse occurring in clause (viii) of sub-section (1) of Section 5 of the Gift-tax Act, therefore, can be read so as to mean spouses. It is further borne out by the fact that the very clause makes it clear where there are more wives than one, the expression "spouse" shall mean all the wives together. This restriction would, therefore, apply to cases of polyandry also. 4. Further even when the tax-payer does not have more than one spouse at the same time, the limit of Rs.50,000 would still have to be taken into account if the word 'spouse' is interpreted to mean "spouses" which interpretation is permitted by the General Clauses Act. Thus for instance where a person had made gift of Rs.50,000 to his/her spouse in the previous year relevant to the assessment year 1966-67 and after death or divorce of this spouse he/she remarried and again made a gift of Rs.30,000 to his /her spouse in the previous year relevant to the assessment year 1974-75 then the latter gift would not qualify for exemption under Section 5(1)(viii). 5. This may please be brought to the notice of all the officers in your charge.