9911796707
TMI Blog1995 (11) TMI 69X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... -81, 1981-82 and 1982-83 and confirming the order dated December 9, 1986, passed by the Agricultural Income-tax Officer, Assam, Guwahati, disallowing the exemption claimed by the petitioner on certain expenditure. The facts, for the purpose of disposal of these cases, may be stated as follows : The above civil rules are in connection with the assessment of agricultural income for the assessment years 1980-81, 1981-82 and 1982-83. The petitioners claimed exemption for the expenses incurred on payment of salary paid to the employees of the tea garden engaged in the operation and manufacture of tea, i.e., Rs. 61,587 in C. R. No. 1371 of 1990, Rs. 3,906 in C. R. No. 1372 of 1990 and Rs. 1,587 in C. R. No. 1373 of 1990 ; transit accommodatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t by the Income-tax Officer under the Income-tax Act will violate the provisions of the Income-tax Act and be contrary to the proviso to rule 5 of the Assam Agricultural Income-tax Rules. Once the income is determined under the Income-tax Act, the Agricultural Income-tax Officer has no authority to alter the same or refuse to accept the computation of the Income-tax Officer. Under the circumstances, I do not find any justification to uphold the petitioner's claim and consequently reject the same. In the result, the revisions fail and are dismissed. The Agricultural Income-tax Officer will, however, revise the assessment orders for the assessment years 1981-82 and 1982-83 in the light of the revised assessment made under section 251 of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Dr. Todi, on the other hand, supports the impugned orders. According to him, the Income-tax Officer having disallowed the claim after consideration, the Agricultural Income-tax Officer has no option but to refuse it on the ground that the Central assessing authority might have found that this amount was not actually incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of earning agricultural income. On the rival contentions of the parties, it is to be seen whether the claim of exemption of the petitioner can be justified or not. To appreciate the position it will be apposite to look to the provisions of section 8(2)(f)(vii) of the Assam Agricultural Income-tax Act. I quote the relevant portion hereunder: "8. (2)(f)(vii) any expenditure ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ove, then the petitioner is entitled to get tax exemption. Therefore, it is necessary for the income-tax assessing authority to consider whether the exemption is claimed in respect of the amount laid out as expenditure wholly and exclusively for the purpose of earning or deriving the agricultural income. If the amount of the exemption claimed is not wholly and exclusively used for the purpose of earning or deriving agricultural income then in that case exemption cannot be allowed. The apex court while dealing with a similar matter in connection with the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, held that for the purpose of deriving agricultural income in section 5(j) of the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950, did not mean anything very di ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te authority scrutinised this aspect of the matter and came to a definite finding. Under the provisions of section 8(2)(f)(vii) of the Act, it is the duty of the Agricultural Income-tax Officer to see whether the exemption claimed comes within the restriction mentioned in the said section. However, I do not find that any endeavour was made by the Department before arriving at a conclusion. Therefore, in my opinion, the impugned orders cannot be sustained in law. Accordingly, I set aside the impugned orders of assessment. However, the Department may reassess the income for the years 1980-81 to 1982-83 strictly in accordance with the provisions of law and in the light of the decision of the apex court and the observations made hereinbefore. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
