1994 (8) TMI 54

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..... are not applicable to the case of the assessee. 3. The assessee is a Trust created by the Settlor Shri Rambhai S. Patel by an Indenture dated 23-4-1979. There are 25 beneficiaries as mentioned in Schedule I and 23 beneficiaries as mentioned in Schedule II attached to the Trust Deed. All the beneficiaries are either Individuals or HUFs. 50% of the income of the assessee-trust is to be distributed amongst the beneficiaries in Schedule I as per share specified therein and the remaining 50% of the income is to be divided and accumulated for and on behalf of the beneficiaries in Schedule II for a period of 19 years as per share specified against each of the beneficiaries. Thus it is evident that the assessee is a specific trust having definite .....

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..... to deduct income-tax at the time of payment of income by way of interest, it had made itself liable to pay interest under section 201(1A) of the Act. The Assessing Officer accordingly levied penal interest (as per details given in the order of CIT(A) and directed the assessee to deposit T.D.S. amount along with penal interest. 5. On appeal, the CIT(A) confirmed the action of the Assessing Officer. 6. Shri R.D. Pathak, the learned counsel for the assessee submitted that the trustees of the assessee-trust have not been assessed directly to tax and that the beneficiaries have been assessed directly in respect of trust income and since beneficiaries were either individuals or HUFs the provisions of section 194A were not applicable. In supp .....

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..... ciary. The decision of the Supreme Court in N.V. Shanmugham Co.'s case lays down that mere fact that there are joint representative assessees in e.g. co-trustees or co-receivers will not make them assessable as association of persons or body of individuals. This is because representative assessees take their status from the beneficiaries they represent and it is wholly immaterial whether there is one representative assessee or there are two or more of them representing the same beneficial interest of interests. That is why co-trustees would be assessable in the status of "individual", where they represent beneficiaries who are assessable-separately in the status of individual and they would be assessable in the status of HUF where they re .....

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