9911796707
TMI Blog1995 (9) TMI 102X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion 32AB of the Act in respect of the cars. The Assessing Officer disallowed the assessee's claim in this behalf by holding that the cars were " road transport vehicles " and hence not entitled to deduction under section 32AB. The learned CIT(A) upheld the action of the Assessing Officer. 3. Shri K. P. Bajaj, the learned counsel for the assessee, submitted that the Assessing Officer had treated the cars as plant and allowed depreciation thereon. It was pointed out that under section 43(3) of the Act, ' plant ' includes vehicles also and since the cars were vehicles, the Assessing Officer had correctly allowed depreciation on the same. It was further submitted that under section 32AB of the Act, ' road transport vehicles ' have been exclu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e but does not include a motor car used by the assessee for purposes of his business. It was also submitted that a road transport vehicle would be only that vehicle for which a permit is required under the Motor Vehicles Act because if a vehicle is used for carrying passengers or goods for hire or reward, it becomes the public service vehicle. 5. The learned D. R., on the other hand, contended that the term " road transport vehicles " has not been defined under the Income-tax Act and so the meaning of this term had to be understood as in common parlance and not under the Motor Vehicles Act where different terms have been used for different purposes to denote their use and from the point of view of levying taxes. It was submitted that the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... definition of ' plant ' which includes vehicles also. Section 43, however, opens with the expression that these terms will mean as defined " unless the context otherwise requires ". Under section 32AB, deduction has to be allowed in respect of plant and machinery but that deduction cannot be allowed in respect of office appliances and road transport vehicles. In the present case, we are not concerned with office appliances but with road transport vehicles. What we have to decide is whether the motor cars purchased by the assessee and admittedly used for business purposes can be termed as road transport vehicles or not. 8. There is no denial of the fact that the term ' road transport vehicle ' has not been defined under the Income-tax Act. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vehciles. 10. We are not impressed by the argument of the learned Counsel for the assessee that the word ' transport ' is specifically used by the Legislature to denote the specific use of the vehicle. It has, for instance, been argued that if a vehicle like taxi is plied for hire or reward, then it will be treated as a road transport vehicle. We dot not read any such restriction into the relevant provision of the Income-tax Act. We notice that under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, section 10(2)(vib) was amended w.e.f. 1-4-1960 and it was for the first time that the term " road transport vehicle " under the Indian Income-tax Act was used. Since this particular definition had already been used under the income-tax laws, when the new Act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
