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INTRODUCTION AND BASIC CONCEPTS
Unit Structure
1.1 Introduction and Objectives
1.2 Assessment Year
1.3 Previous Year
1.4 Person
1.5 Assessee
1.6 Assessment
1.7 Income
1.8 Gross Total Income
1.9 Total Income
1.10 Scheme of charging income tax
1.11 Self Examina tion Questions
1.1 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES :
Income tax is levied by the Central Government under entry 82 of the
Union of Schedule VII to Constitution of India. This entry deals with
‘Tax on income other than agricultural income’. This task is achie ved by
the enactment of the Income Tax Act, 1961[“The Act”].
The Act provides for the scope and machinery for levy and collection of
Income Tax in India. It is supported by Income Tax Rules, 1962 and
several other subordinate rules and regulations. Besides , circulars and
notifications are issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and
sometimes by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India dealing with
various aspects of the levy of Income tax. Unless otherwise stated,
references to the sections w ill be the reference to the sections of the
Income Tax Act, 1961.
Section 4, which is the charging section, provides that Income tax is a tax
on the total income of a person called the assessee of the previous year
relevant to the assessment year at the ra tes prescribed in the relevant
Finance Act
This phrase sets the tone and agenda of any study on Income Tax Law
This comprises of the understanding of the following:
Concept of assessment year and previous year,
Meaning of person and assessee,
How to charg e tax on income, munotes.in
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2 What is regarded as income under the Income -tax Act,
What is gross total income,
What is total income or taxable income and
Income -tax rates
This lesson deals with all these aspects, which lay down the basic
framework for levy of income t ax in India and also explain the basic
concepts and terms used in the income tax law.
1.2 ASSESSMENT YEAR – S. 2(9)
Section 2(9) defines an “Assessment year” as “the period of twelve
months starting from the first day of April every year “
An assessment year begins on 1st April every year and ends on 31st March
of the next year. For example, Assessment year 2021 -22 means the period
of one year beginning on 1st April, 2021 and ending on 31st March, 2022
In an assessment year, income of the assessee during th e previous year is
taxed at the rates prescribed by the relevant Finance Act. It is therefore,
also called as the “Tax Year”
1.3 PREVIOUS YEAR - S. 2(34)& S. 3
3.1. Defintion:
Section 3 defines “Previous year” as “the financial year immediately
preceding the asses sment year” .
Income earned in one financial year is taxed in the next financial year. The
year in which income is earned is called the “previous year” and the year
in which it is taxed is called the “assessment year”.
This will be explained from the following illustrations:
Illustration -1:
For assessment year 2021 -22, immediately preceding financial year 2020 -
21 i.e. from 1st April, 2020 to 31st March 2021will be the previous year”
in other words, for the Previous Year 2020 -21, Assessment Year will be
2021 -22.
In the above case, income is earned during Previous Year 2020 -21 will
taxed in the next financial year 2021 -22.
Illustration -2
For the Assessment Year 2020 -21, Previous Year will be 2020 -21 i.e.
from 1st April, 2020 to 31st March 2021.
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3 3.2. Comm on previous year for all source of income:
A person may earn income from more than one sources but previous year
will always be common for all the sources of income .This will be so even
if a person maintains records or books of accounts separately for di fferent
sources of income.
Total income of a person from all the sources of income will be taken
together and considered in the previous year or the financial year
immediately preceding the assessment year.
Illustration -3:
Ashok receives taxable annual sa lary of Rs 10,00,000 from A Limited and
Rs 2,00,000 from B Limited. He also receives taxable income of Rs
1,00,000 as dividend and interest from his investments in shares and fixed
deposits. Further, Ashok also runs a personal business, from which he
recei ves Rs 2,00,000 as taxable income.
A’s aggregate income of Rs 15,00,000 from all the sources i.e. ( Rs
10,00,000+ 2,00,000+ 1,00,000 + 2,00,000 ) will have a common previous
year 2020 -21 and taxed in the assessment year 2021 -22.
3.3. New Business or Profess ion:
Where, a business is newly set up during the previous year, or where a
new source of income has arisen during the previous year, the previous
year will be the period (obviously less than one year) commencing from
the date of setting up of the new busi ness or the date of new source of
income arising.
Illustration -4:
Ramesh sets up a business in January, 2021. The period of three months
beginning on 1st January, 2014 and ending on 31st March, 2021 will be
the previous year 2020 -21 and taxed in the assess ment year 2021 -22. It is
Immaterial that previous year is of a period of less than 12 months.
3.4. Exception:
There are some exceptions to the rule that income of the previous year is
taxable in the next assessment year. In such cases, the income of is taxed
in the previous year itself. As a result, in such case, a financial year
becomes the previous year as well as the assessment year.
Theses exceptions are provided to ensure safeguards to smooth collection
of income tax from a class of taxpayers who may not b e traceable till the
commencement of the normal assessment year.
The Exceptions referred to above are:
a) Income of non -residents from shipping business –S.172; munotes.in
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4 b) Income of persons leaving India either permanently or for a long
period of time and not likely to return back –S. 173 -174 ;
c) Income of bodies formed for short duration for a particular event or
purpose – S 174A;
d) Income of a person trying to alienate his assets with a view to
avoiding payment of tax – S. 175 ,
e) Income of a discontinued business - S.17 6
f) Realisation of written off bad debts -S 41(1)
g) Dividend income -S 56
1.4 PERSON –S. 2(31 )
4.1 Definition:
Section 2(31) gives an inclusive definition of “person”
“Person” includes:
a) an individual;
b) a Hindu undivided family (HUF);
c) a company;
d) a firm;
e) an Associat ion of Persons (AOP) or a Body of Individuals, (BoI)
whether incorporated or not;
f) a local authority; and
g) every artificial juridical person not falling within any of the preceding
categories
4.2 Inclusive definition:
Since the above definition of “person” i s inclusive one and not exhaustive,
there may be cases, when an entity not falling in the above seven
categories may still be treated as “person” inviting the provisions of the
Act.
4.3 Profit Motive not necessary :
As per Explanation to S. 2 (31), an entity n eed not be formed for profit.
Thus, Non -Profit Organisations or charitable trusts are also covered by the
definition of “person” although their income is not taxable under the Act
on satisfying the certain terms and conditions.
4.4 Description of types of p ersons:
A brief description of these seven categories is as follows:
a. Individuals are all living persons of blood and flesh e.g. Ram, Shyam,
Gopal, Albert, Ibrahim etc. munotes.in
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5 b. Hindu Undivided Families (HUF) or Hindu joint families are
regarded as separate tax enti ties in view of the specific law of succession
prevalent among the Hindus.
c. Company as per section 2(31) includes Indian as well as foreign
companies and public as well as private Companies. Besides, the CBDT
has the power to declare any institution as a Company. Section 25
companies (charitable companies) are also included under the purview but
have separate exemptions under the Act.
d. Partnership firms including Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)
are regarded as distinct taxable units separate from thei r partners.
Therefore, under the Act, firms are taxed as the firms and individual
partners are taxed separately in their personal capacity.
e. BOI and AOP : BOI and AOP are the group of persons carrying on
some activities to earn income such as joint venture.
Normally AOPs are contractual in nature like a joint venture agreement if
such venture not formed as a partnership or a company.
On the other hand, BOI may be due to circumstances such as joint owner
of an estate. Clubs, Societies, Charitable Trusts et c are covered under this
head.
f. Local authorities: Municipal corporations, Panchayats, Cantonment
Board, Zila Parishads etc are the examples of Local authorities.
g. Residual category: Final category is residual category and covers all
such persons which are not covered in any of the above six categories.
Illustration -5:
Determine the status of the following under the income Tax Act, 1961:
Person Status
Ramesh Agrawal Individual
Asha Jain Individual
Reliance Industries limited Company
Warna Co -Society Ltd AOP
Indian Red Cross society AOP
Legal heirs to receive property of late
Shri Nusserwanji BOI
Tata power Ltd Company
Sachin Tendulkar Individual
Board for Cricket control in India AOP
Family of Shri PB Hindu HUF
Pune Cantonment Board Local Authority
Mumbai University Artificial Juridical Person
Ramsay Brothers doing business in
partnership Firm
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6 1.5 ASSESSEE –S. 2(7)
5.1 Definition :
U/s 2(7) “Assessee” means a person by whom income tax or any other
sum of money is payable under the Ac t and it includes:
a. every person in respect of whom any proceeding under the Act has
been taken for the assessment of his income or loss or the amount of
refund due to him
b. a person who is assessable in respect of income or loss of another
person or who is deemed to be an assessee, or
c. an assessee in default under any provision of the Act
5.2 The definition of “assessee” is also inclusive one and may include
any other person is not covered in the above categories. In other words,
the definition of the assessee i s so wide that so as to include a person
himself or his representative such as legal heir, trustee etc. Moreover,
importance is given not only to the amount of tax payable but also to
refund due and the proceedings taken.
5.3 Definition of the ‘assessee” cover s the following class of persons:
1. A person by whom income tax or any other sum of money is payable
under the Act
2. A person in respect of whom any proceeding under the Act has been
taken for the assessment of his:
a. income or
b. loss or
c. the amount of refund due to him
3. A person who is assessable in respect of income or loss of another
person or
4. A person who is deemed to be an assessee,
5. an assessee in default under any provision of the Act
5.4 A minor child is treated as a separate assessee in respect of any
income generated out of activities performed by him like singing in radio
jingles, acting in films, tuition income, delivering newspapers, etc.
However, income from investments, capital gains on securities held by
minor child, etc. would be taxable in the han ds of the parent having the
higher income (mostly the father), unless if such assets have been acquired
from the minor’s sources of income.
1.6 ASSESSMENT - S 2(8)
An assessment is the procedure to determine the taxable income of an
assessee and the tax payabl e by him. S. 2(8) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 munotes.in
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7 gives an inclusive definition of assessment “ an assessment includes
reassessment”
U/s 139 of the Act, every assessee is required to file a self declaration of
his income and tax payable by him called “return o f income”.
The Income Tax officer may accept the return summarily without making
any enquiry into its contents. This is called as the ‘summary assessment’ -S
(143(1).
Alternatively, the assessing officer may call upon the assessee to explain
his return o f income and thereafter the assessing officer after making
necessary enquiry frames a reasoned order determining the total income
and the tax payable by the assessee This is called the “regular assessment -
–S 143(3).”
Completed assessment becomes final ex cept in certain circumstances.
These circumstances are;
6.1 U/s 147 , an assessment can be reopened to assess income which has
escaped assessment,
6.2 U/s 263 , the Commissioner of Income Tax may ask an assessment to
be redone if the assessment order is erroneous and prejudicial to the
interest of the revenue ,
6.3 U/s 264, the Commissioner of Income Tax at the application of an
assessee or suo motu , may ask an assessment to be redone. This is
normally done to give relief to the assessee.
6.4 U/s 254, the Income Tax Appel late Tribunal (ITAT) in appeal
proceedings may pass an order directing the assessment to be redone .
In all the above cases “reassessment” of the income is required to be done.
The definition of assessment includes the regular assessment and reopened
or reassessment.
1.7 INCOME - S 2(24)
7.1 Definition :
Income includes
1. Profits and gains ;
2. Dividend;
3. Voluntary contributions received by the following :
a trust or an institution created or established wholly or partly for
charitable or religious purposes ;
a scientific research association or institution - S.10(21 ; munotes.in
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8 a fund or trust or institution referred for promotion of sports –S
10(23C) iv) / (v);
any university or other educational institution referred to in sub -clause
(iiiad) or sub -clause (vi );
any hospital or other institution S 10(23C) (iiiae)/via; or
by an electoral trust
For this purpose “trust" includes any other legal obligation
4. Receipts by the employees:
Value of any perquisite or profit in lieu of salary taxable U/s 17(2)/(3)
Any special allowance or benefit , specifically granted to the assessee
to meet expenses wholly, necessarily and exclusively for the
performance of the duties of an office or employment of profit ;
Any allowance granted to the assessee either to meet his pers onal
expenses at the place where the duties of his office or employment of
profit are ordinarily performed by him or at a place where he
ordinarily resides or to compensate him for the increased cost of living
;
Value of any benefit or perquisite , whether convertible into money
or not, obtained from a company either by a director or by a person
who has a substantial interest in the company, or by a relative of the
director or such person, and any sum paid by any such company in
respect of any obligation whi ch, but for such payment, would have
been payable by the director or other person aforesaid ;
5. Value of any benefit or perquisite , whether convertible into money or
not, obtained by any representative assessee U/s 160 or by any
person on whose behalf or for whose benefit any income is receivable
by the representative assessee and any sum paid by the representative
assessee in respect of any obligation which, but for such payment,
would have been payable by the beneficiary;
6. Value of any benefit or perquisite, whether convertible into money or
not, obtained from a company either by a director or by a person
who has a substantial interest in the company, or by a relative of the
director or such person, and any sum paid by any such company in
respect of any obligation which, but for such payment, would have
been payable by the director or other person aforesaid;
7. Incomes from business – s-28 Managerial compensation – S. 28(ii),
Income derived by a trade, professional or similar association from
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9 Export benefits – Duty draw back, cash assistance and DEPB -S.
28(iiia), iiib)and (iiic)
Value of any benefit or perquisite taxable the value of any benefit or
perquisite taxable – S 28 (iv);
Sum received from non -compete agreements - S 28 (va)
Balancing charge and other receipts e arlier allowed as deduction –S
41
Profits and gains of any business of insurance carried on by a mutual
insurance company or by a co -operative society -S-44 any surplus
taken to be such profits and gains by virtue of provisions contained in
the First Sched ule
Profits and gains of any business of banking (including providing
credit facilities) carried on by a co -operative society with its members;
8. Capital gains chargeable under section 45 ;
9. Any sum earlier allowed as deduction and chargeable to income -tax
under Section 59
10. Any winnings from lotteries, crossword puzzles, races including horse
races, card games and other games of any sort or from gambling or
betting of any form or nature whatsoever. Including any game
11. Any contribution received from employees towards any provident
fund or superannuation fund or Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 ,
or any other fund for the welfare of such employees ;
12. Any sum rec eived under a Keyman insurance policy including the sum
allocated by way of bonus on such policy.
13. Any sum of money or value of property received as gift –S 56(2) from
01/06/2010
14. Excess of any consideration received for issue of shares as exceeds the
fair market value of the shares of closely held company except in the
case of transfer of such shares for reorganization of business by
amalgamation or demerger etc..
7.2 The above definition indicates that although the Income tax is a tax on
income, the ter m “income” is not exhaustively defined in the Act. Instead,
section 2(24) offers an inclusive definition of income and covers in its
purview not only the income in its natural and general sense but also
several items not otherwise considered as income.
Thus Income means not only the revenue receipts arising or accruing
regularly but also capital receipts like gifts and even donations. On the
other hand certain revenue receipts like agricultural income are left out
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10 Some of the principles that have emerged out as a result of customs,
practices and judicial pronouncements to ascertain as to what does or does
not constitute income are as follows.
1. Revenue receipts are normally regarded as income unless
specifically exempted Income is like the fruit of a tree, where tree is
the source and fruits are the income.
2. Income is normally a regular periodical receipt, received or derived
from a certain source.
3. The source of income must be external. No one can earn income by
or from h imself. Therefore, income accruing to clubs, societies etc
from their own members are not taken as taxable income on the
ground of mutuality.
4. Income may be in cash or kind.
5. Legality of the source of income is not relevant. Income may be
derived from illeg al sources like, smuggling, theft, bribery,
corruption etc.
6. Receipt is regarded as the income and not the application or use of
the income.
7. Receipts, if diverted at the source are not regarded as income.
8. Any dispute regarding the title of the income do es not take away its
nature as income.
9. Personal gifts have been progressively considered as the income
although such gifts are capital in nature. This will be clear from the
following :
a. Gift to an employee by his employer is included in the definiti on of
salary – Sec17.
b. Gift by the clients or customers are included in the profits and gains
from the business or profession. Thus, a car given by a client to his
lawyer or a disciple to his guru will be taxable in the hands of
income from business or pro fession – Sec 28.
c. All other gifts in excess of Rs. 50,000 in aggregate with certain
exceptions like gift mortis causa ( in contemplation of death) gifts on
the occasion of marriage and gifts from defined relatives etc are
taxable as the income from the other sources -Sec 56
d. With effect from October 1, 2009, where any immovable property
like land, building, property is received without any consideration,
the stamp duty value of which exceeds Rs 50,000, the stamp duty
value of the property shall be taxable in the hands of the recipient
unless received from relatives or on the occasion of marriage or as
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11 e. With effect from October 1, 2009, where any movable property like
shares, securities, stamps, etc. and immovable properties with effect
from 0 1-04-2014 whose fair market value exceeds Rs 50,000, the
aggregate fair market value shall be taxable in the hands of the
recipient unless received from relatives or on the occasion of
marriage or as inheritance.
f. With effect from June. 1, 2010, Shares of closely held companies
transferred to another company or firm are covered in the definition
of gift except in the case of transfer of such shares for reorganization
of business by amalgamation or demerger etc.
10. A distribution of surplus arising from a mutua l activity is not
considered as income. Thus, a surplus received from a mutual
organisation like employees’ tea club, or a co -operative housing
society will not be the income on the ground of mutuality.
11. Income may be recognised either on receipt basis or on accrual basis
depending upon the facts and circumstances of each case and method
of accounting applied in that case.
12. Income must be certain. Contingent income is not regarded as
income unless and until such contingency occurs and the income
arises to the assessee.
13. Income is the sum total of all receipts from all the sources and
considered accordingly.
14. Pin money received by a woman for personal expenses or even the
savings made by her from such receipts is not considered as income.
However, the husban d will not get any credit from his income for
these payments.
15. Income may be received in lump sum or in instalments. Thus, arrears
of salary received by a person in lump sum are regarded as his
income.
16. Normally only revenue receipts are regarded as income and not the
capital receipts unless specifically provided for. For example:
Maturity proceeds of Keyman Insurance Policy, sales tax subsidy,
Voluntary contribution by a donor to a trust are considered as
income though capital in nature.
17. Awards received by a professional sportsperson would be income
unless the award is in nature of a gift in personal consideration.
Some of the above items are discussed in detail in latter chapters at
appropriate places.
18. Income of wife is be taxable in the hands of the husb and if the assets
out of which the income is arising have not been acquired out of the
sources of the wife or from an asset gifted by the husband except as
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12 19. Income of minor children is be taxable in the hands of the parents
having higher income [ mother or father] except when the income is
arising from the efforts of the minor child say modeling charges.
1.8 GROSS TOTAL INCOME - S -14:
Section 14 of the Act defines the Gross Total Income as the aggregate of
the incomes computed under the five heads after making adjustments for
set-off and carry forward of losses. The five heads of income are as
follows namely:
1. Income from Salaries
2. Income from House Property
3. Profits and Gains from Business & Profession
4. Capital Gains
5. Income from Other Sources
The aggregate income under these heads is termed as “Gross Total
Income” In other words; gross total income means total income computed
in accordance with the provisions of the Act before making any dedu ction
under sections 80C to 80U. However, any exemptions as allowed by
Section 10 are deducted from the respective heads before arriving at the
gross total income like conveyance allowance, capital gains on sale of
personal effects, dividend income, etc.
1.9 TOTAL INCOME:
The total income of an assessee is computed by deducting from the gross
total income all permissible deductions available under the Chapter VI A
of the Income Tax Act, 1961. This is also referred to as the “Net Income”
or “Taxable Income”.
1.10 CHEME OF CHARGING INCOME TAX
Income tax is a tax on the total income of an assessee for a particular
assessment year. This implies that;
Income -tax is an annual tax on income
Income of previous year is chargeable to tax in the next following
assessment yea r at the tax rates applicable for the assessment. year
This rule is, however, subject to some exceptions discussed in Para 4
above.
Tax rates are fixed by the annual Finance Act and not by the Income -
tax Act. For instance, the Finance Act, 2020 fixes tax rates for the
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13 Tax is charged on every person if the gross total income exceeds the
minimum income chargeable to tax.
Tax rates are given in the lesson dealing with computation of income.
1.11 ELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
1. Income of a previous year is chargeable tax in the immediately
following assessment year. Is there any exception to this rule? Discuss
2. Define the term “person”
3. How would you calculate income -tax for the assessment year 2021 -
22 in the case of different assesses?
4. Explain how education cess will be computed for the assessment year
2021 -22? [Ans: 4% ]
5. What will be the previous year for X, who starts his business on April
6, 2020 [ Ans: A.Y. 2021 -22]
6. Will the answer to Q 5 be different , if X starts his business on 28th
March,2021? [ Ans: A.Y. 2021 -22]
7. Explain that a financial year is a previous year and also an assessment
year. Every financial year can also be an assessment year,
8. Previous year is a financial year immediately precedi ng the
Assessment year Comment
9. What will be the status of University of Mumbai?
[Ans: Artificial juridical person ]
10. Indicate whether the following persons will be taxed as individuals:
a) X a partner of a firm
b) Y, a managing director of A Ltd;”
c) Z is the member of Z HUF
d) Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai in respect of the Income of the
Municipal Corporation
e) Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai in respect of his salary from the
Municipal Corporation
f) A minor acting in TV commerci als
[Ans: All except (d) will be taxed, Firm X , A Ltd , Z HUF , Mun Corpn. Separate
tax entities ]
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14 2
BASIS OF CHARGE AND INCIDENCE
OF TAX
Unit Structure
2.1 Introduction and Objectives
2.2 Basic Charge of Income Tax
2.3 Residential Status
2.4 Residential status and incidence of tax
2.5 Income deemed to be received in India
2.6 Income deemed to be ‘accrue or arise’ in India
2.7 Receipt vs. Remittance
2.8 Actual receipt Vs Deemed Receipt Total Income
2.9 Receipt vs. Accrual
2.10 Basis of Charge of Dividend Income
2.11 Heads of Income
2.12 Self Examination Questions
2.1 INTRODUCTIO N AND OBJECTIVES
This lesson deals with the scheme of income Tax laid down in section 4 to
9 as to the basis of charging income tax, income on which tax is to be
levied, the status of persons and effect of the status of persons on which
the income tax is to be levied, periodicity of the tax and other incidental
matters.
2.2 BASIS OF CHARGE OF INCOME TAX ( S. 4 -9 )
Section 4 lays down the basis of charge and provides that Income tax is
the tax on “total income” of a “ person” during the ‘ previous
year’ relevan t to the ‘ assessment year’ at the rates prescribed in the
Finance act for the year. Relevant terms have been discussed in detail in
the previous chapter.
Section 5 provides that total income of an assessee will be chargeable to
tax depending upon the resid ential status of a person andplace and time of
accrual of such income. Section 6lays down the rules for
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Basis of charge and Incidence of tax
15 Section 7 specifies the incomes though not received in India but deemed to
be received in Ind ia.
Section 8 determines the year of taxability of dividend income
Section 9 specifies the incomes though not accrued or arisen in India but
deemed to accrue or arise in India.
2.3 RESIDENTIAL STATUS –S 6
2.3.1 Concept of Residential Status
Under Section 5 total income of an assessee is be chargeable to tax
depending upon the residential status of a person and place and time of
accrual of such income and the rules for determining residential status of
various types of persons are contained in Section 6.These pro visions are
discussed in detail below:
2.3.2 Classification of persons:
Provisions for determination of the residential status are different for
different categories of the assessee viz:
a) individuals;
b) Hindu Undivided Families (HUF)
c) Firms or Associations of P ersons(AOP);
d) Companies; and
e) Every other person
2.3.3 Residential status of individual:
3.3.1 Resident or Non -resident(NR) -Section 6(1):
To determine the residential status of an individual, it is to be ascertained
whether he is resident or a non –resident during the previous year.
An individual will be a resident in India in any previous year, if he
satisfies at least one of the following TWObasic conditions —
1) He is in India in the previous year for a period of 182 days or more
OR
2) He is in India for a period of 60 days or more during the previous
year AND 365 days or more during 4 years immediately preceding the
previous year
Exception:
The Second condition of 60 days or more is extended to 182 days or
more in following two circumstances: munotes.in
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16 i. An Indian citizen leaves Indi a during the previous year
for the purpose of taking up employment outside India. OR
as a member of the crew of an Indian ship OR .
ii. An Indian citizen or a person of Indian origincomes on visit to
India during the previous year.
For this purpose, a person is said to be of Indian origin if either he or any
of his parents or any of his grandparents was born in undivided India.
In both the above cases, an individual needs to be present in India for a
minimum of 182 days or more to become resident in India instead of 60
days.
If the individual satisfies any of the two conditions, he is a resident
in India and if he does not satisfy any of the conditions, he is a non -
resident during that particular assessment year.
3.3.2 Resident and Ordinarily Resident [R & O R ] -S-6(6)
Once an individual satisfies any of the above two basic conditions for a
particular assessment year, next step would be to determine whether he
will be a resident and ordinarily resident of India in that assessment year.S
6(6) provides that a person will be “resident and ordinarily resident” in
India in any assessment year if he satisfies BOTH of the following two
conditions Viz he has been: -
1) resident in India in at least 2 out of 10 previous years according to
the above basic conditions immediately preceding the relevant previous
year. AND
2) in India for a period of 730 days or more during 7 years
immediately preceding the relevant previous year.
3.3.3 Resident and Not Ordinarily Resident [R &N O R ]
A resident individual, who does not satisfy BOTH of the above conditions
given above, will be a Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident in India.
In other words, an individual becomes resident but not ordinarily resident
in IndiaIf he
satisfies at least one of the basic conditions but satisfies NONE of the
additional conditions OR
Satisfies ONLY ONE of the two additional conditions.
3.3.4 Non Resident
An individual is a non -resident in India if he satisfies none of the basic
conditions .It must be noted that if a person satisfies the additional
conditions but does not satisfy the basic conditions, he will still be treated
as Non -Resident. In such a case, additional conditions are not relevant. munotes.in
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17 3.3.5 SUMMARY
From the above discussion it is brought out that an individual can either
be:
(a) resident and ordinarily resident in India;
(b) resident but not ordinarily resident in Indiaor
(c) non-resident
This can be depicted in the following diagram:
RESIDENTIAL STATUS OF INDIVIDUAL
Resident Non- Resident (Nr)
Resident and Resident but Not
Ordinar ily Resident Ordinarily Resident
(ROR)(RNOR)
Figure 1 Status of the
Individual Basic Condition
S.6(1) Additional Conditions –
S 6)6) Resident and
ordinarily
Resident Satisfies at least one
condition Satisfies Both conditions Resident but not
ordinarily
Resident Satisfiesat least one
condition Does not satisfy any
conditions OR
Satisfies only one of the
conditions Non-Resident Does not satisfy any
conditions Not Required as it is
irrelevant whether he does
or does not satisfy the
additional conditions
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18 3.3.6 Some Important points:
Following points are important in determine the residential status of a
person
a) A person need not stay at one place only. Stay may be at different
places in India.
b) A person may stay in India in intervals. Stay need not be continuous.
c) In computing the stay period, the day on which a person enters India as
well as the day on which .he leaves India shall be taken into
consideration even if on such days the person is in India only for a part
of a day.
Note: According to decided cases, a total of 24 hours of stay spread over
a number of days is to be counted as being equivalent to the stay of one
day.. But in most questions the hours of arrival and departure are not
given. In all such cases day of departure a nd arrival both shall be
computed as two days} .
d) A person, who is in India for 182 days or more will always be a
resident of India .
e) Conversely, a person, who is in India for 59 days or less, will always
be Non -Resident of India.
f) An Indian citizen must le ave India for employment or as crew t o get
extended limit of 182 days instead of 60 days. A person leaving India
as tourist or for medical treatment will not get the limit of 182 days.
Further, the condition is relaxed only for Indian citizens and notfor
persons, who are not Indian citizens.
g) Persons of Indian origin must come to India on visit for any purpose –
pilgrimage, medical treatment or tourism but NOT business or job.
Indian citizenship is not the requirement for this purpose.
h) In computing the days of stay, one must be careful to note the leap
years -2012,2016 and 2020.
3.3.7 Illustrations :
Illustration -1:
Rajesh leaves India for the first time on December 20, 2014. During the
financial year 2020 -21, he came to India on May 27 for a period of 45
days. Determine his residential status for the assessment year 2021 -22.
Solution:
During the previous year 2020 -21, Rajesh is in India only for 45 days He
does not satisfy any of the basic conditions laid down in section 6(1).
Hence, Rajesh is a non -resident in India for the assessment year 2021 -22.
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Basis of charge and Incidence of tax
19 Illustration -2:
Mahesh comes to India, for the first time, on April 16, 2018. He stays in
Chennai up to April 10, 2020 and thereafter shifts to Mumbai. He departs
from Mumbai for his native country on October 2, 2 020. Determine his
residential status for the assessment year 2021 -22.
.Solution:
As Mahesh was in India for 185 days* from April, 1, 2020 to October 2,
2020, which is 182 days .he satisfies the first condition u/s 6(1) of staying
in India for 182 days or more during the previous year 2020 -21, he is a
resident in India
Month/2020 April May June July August Sept Oct. Total
Days 30 31 30 31 31 30 2 185
In the previous year 2018 -19, Mahesh was inIndia for 351 days from
16/04/2018 to 31/03 /2019 and in the subsequent year 2019 -20, he was in
India for the whole year. As result Mahesh was resident in India for these
two years. Hence he fulfills the first additional condition under Section
6(6) that he must be a resident in India in at least t wo year out of the ten
preceding year i.e. from 2011 -12 to 2019 -20 ( Feb 2020 Leap Month)
But Mahesh was in India for a period of 717 days only [. 351 days in
2018 -19 and 366 days in 2019 -20], which is less than 730 days stay
required in the seven prece ding year from 2013 -14 to 2019 -20 as per the
second additional condition
Therefore,Mahesh satisfies one of the basic conditions and only one of the
two additional conditions, he is, therefore, resident but not ordinarily
resident in India for the assessmen t year 2021 -22.
Illustration -3:
3. Determine residential status for the assessment year 2021 -22, of
Venkat, an Indian Citizen who leaves India for employment in Canada on
July 1, 2020.
Solution:
Venkat was in India for 92 days in 2020 -21 ( April : 3 0 days; May - 31
days; June : 30 days and July 2011: 1 days). Venkat is an Indian citizen,
leaving India to take up a job. Hence, he will be get the extend limit of 182
days stay in India during 2020 -21. Hence Venkat will be a Non resident
although of was in India for more than 365 days during the four years
preceding the previous year
Illustration - 4:
What will be theposition in the above case, if Venkat leaves India for
world tour? munotes.in
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Direct Tax
20 Solution:
Venkat will be Resident and Ordinarily Resident of India as he satisfies
the second basic condition u/s 6(1) of 365 days stay in the preceding four
years and 60 days stay during 2020 -21and also the two additional
condition of section 6(6), as being a person born in India, Venkat satisfies
both the additional con ditions of being resident in India for two years in
preceding 10 years and stay of 730years in seven preceding years.
Illustration -5:
Supposing in the above case,Venkat wants to postpone his stay in India,
what would be the last date by which he should leave India?
Solution:
Since Venkat is covered by the exception, he should depart latest by
September 28, 2020 so that his stay in India during the previous year
2020 -21is of 181 days (less than 182 days).
Illustration -6:
What willbe the position in the above case if Venkat is a Nepali citizen
settled in India?
Solution
Venkat will not be covered by the exception U/s 6(1) as he is not an Indian
citizen. Since he satisfies the basic condition and alsoboth the additional
conditions of 730 days in 7 preced ing years and 2 years resident in
preceding 10 years, he will be a resident and ordinary resident in India
Illustration -7:
Chappell, an Australian Citizen comes to India as the Coach of Indian
Cricket team. During the previous year 2020 -21, he stayed in India for 95
days. Before that, he was in India for more than 365 days during the 4
years prior to 2020 -21. What will be his residential status for the
assessment year 2021 -22?
Solution:
Chappell satisfies the second basic condition of stay of 365 days or more
during the four years preceding the previous year 2020 -21, and he was in
India for more than 60 days during the financial year 2020 -21. He will be
Resident of India. Since he is not a person of Indian origin nor he comes in
India on visit, he will not get the extended time limit of 182 days. Since
chapel was never in India, he does not fulfill the additional two conditions,
hence he will be Resident but not Ordinarily Resident of India [RNOR] .
Illustration -8:
Will the position be different in th e illustration 7 if Chappell is a resident
of Bangladesh? munotes.in
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Basis of charge and Incidence of tax
21 Although Bangladesh was part of undivided India, Chappell will not get
any benefit as he has not come on visit but as a professional coach.
Illustration -9:
Will the above position change If Chap pell is a Pakistani citizen and visits
India as a tourist. ?
Solution:
Yes, Chappell will get the extended limit of 182 days and he will be a Non
resident.
2.3.4 Residential status of HUF :
3.4.1 Resident
As per Section 6(2), a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) will be Resident in
India if control and management of its affairs is wholly or partly situated
in India and conversely, a HUF will be non- resident in India if control
and management of its affairs is situated wholly outside India. This
position can be summa rized as follows: Control or Management Status Wholly or partly in India Resident Wholly outside India Non resident
Control and management means de facto (actual) control or manage but
not merely the right to control or manage..Control and management is
situated at a place where the head, the seat and the directing power are
situated.
3.4.2 Resident and Ordinarily resident (ROR)
A HUF can will be Resident and Ordinarily Resident if its Karta satisfies
both the conditions given in section 6(6) tha t is the .Karta has been
present in India: -
in at least 2 out of 10 previous years according to the basic condition
mentioned immediately preceding the relevant previous year and
for a period of 730 days or more during 7 years immediately
preceding the p revious year
3.4.3 Resident and Not Ordinarily resident (ROR)
If the Karta does not satisfy both of the two additional conditions, the
HUF will be treated as a resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR)in
India
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22 3.4.4 Non-Resident
A HUF will be non- resident in India if control and management of its affairs is
situated wholly outside India. It is not the basic conditions but the control and
the management of HUF which is relevant to whether the HUF is Resident or
Non-Resident. However, to determine ROR status the two additional conditions
will be applicable with reference to its Karta.
3.4.5 Summary
Thus, like an Individual a HUF may be either: -
(a) Resident and ordinarily in India, or
(b) Resident but not ordinarily resident in India or
(c) Non-resident in India.
This is depicted in the following diagrams:
RESIDENTIAL STATUS OF HUF
Resident Non- Resident (NR)
Resident and Resident but Not
Ordinarily Resident Ordinarily Resident
(ROR)(RNOR)
Figure 2 Summary Status of th e
Individual Basic Condition
S.6(1) Additional Conditions –
S 6)6) Resident and
ordinarily
Resident If Control or management is wholly or partly in outside
India and Karta satisfies Both conditions U/s 6(6) Resident but not
ordinarily
Resident If Co ntrol or management is wholly or partly in outside
India and Karta satisfies both conditions or satisfies
only one of the conditions U/s 6(6)
Non Resident If Control or management is wholly outside India munotes.in
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Basis of charge and Incidence of tax
23 2.3.5 Residential Status of Other Non -Company P ersons ( –S. 6(2) / S 6(4)
3.5.1 Resident –S 6(2)
Like the HUFs, residence of all non company persons viz a firm an
Association of Persons (AOP) or a Body of Individuals (BOI) and every
other person will depend upon the place of control and management vi de
section 6(2).as summarised below :. Control or Management Status Wholly or partly in India Resident Wholly outside India Non resident
Thus, any such person will be Resident in India if control and
management of its affairs is wholly or partly situated in India and
conversely, it will be non-resident in India if control and management of
its affairs is situated wholly outside India.
Control and management means de facto (actual) control or manage but
not merely the right to control or manage..Control and management is
situated at a place where the head, the seat and the directing power are
situated.
3.5.2 Non Resident
AOP, BOI and firms will be non -resident in India if control and
management of its affairs is situated wholly outside India. T hese persons
can only be either resident or not resident but not ordinarily residents as
depicted in the following diagram:
RESIDENTIAL STATUS OF ALL OTHER PERSONS
RESIDENTNON - RESIDENT
Figure 3
Illustration -10:
Whether XYZ operating in India but is partly controlled from outside
India will be resident or non –resident if its status is: - ;
a) HUF, c) AOP, d) BOI , e) Artificial juridical person?
Solution
XYZ will be Resident of India in all the cases. munotes.in
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24 Illustration -11:
What will be the status in th e above cases if XYZ is wholly controlled
from Mauritius ?
Solution
XYZ will be Non -Resident of India in all the cases.
2.3.6 Residential Status of a Company –Section 6(3)
As per section 6(3), residential status of a company is based on its place of
registration and control and management. Indian companies are always
treated as resident irrespective of where their control or management is.
Other companies’ will be resident if their control and management is
wholly in India. Even if the part of the mana gement or control is outside
India, the foreign company would be treated as non - resident in India
The legal provisions are summarised in the following table.
Company Status
Indian companies Resident
Other Companies if control and management is :
Wholly or partly in India
Wholly outside India
Resident
Non resident
Illustration -12:
What will be the residential status of X LTD an Indian company managed
from India?
Solution
Indian company wills always Resident in India. (f) Foreign Company wi ll
be a Non resident..
Illustration -13:
What will be the residential status of Y LTD an Indian company managed
from London?
Solution
Indian company wills always Resident of India even if it is managed from
outside India. .
munotes.in
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Basis of charge and Incidence of tax
25 Illustration -14:
Wha t will be the residential status of T LTD a British company managed
from India?
Solution
T ltd will resident will be resident in India as its control or management is
wholly or partly situated in India.
Illustration -15:
What will be the residential sta tus of U Inc A US Company managed from
London?
Solution
U limited will be a Non -resident in India as its control or management is
wholly situated outside India.
2.3.7 Miscellaneous:
Following points are noteworthy:
A. Residential status for each previous year:
Residential status of a person shall be determined for each previous year
independently.
B. Different residential status for different assessment years:
Residential status of a person maychange from previous year to previous
year. be different for different assessment years and a person may have
different residential status for different assessment years. For instance, if
a person leaves India for two years and then comes back, he can be non -
resident for those two years and resident for other years.
C. Resident in India and abroad:
A person may be “resident” in two or more countries at the same time.
Converselyin a particular assessment year, a person may be a non -resident
in India as well as other countries.
It is not necessary that a person, who is “reside nt” in India, will
necessarily be non -resident in all the other countries for the same
assessment year. This is particularly true of a person, who has changed his
country two three times in a year and he does not fall in any category of
residents anywhere in the world.
D. Residence for all sources :
If a person is a resident for one source of income in a previous year, he
shall be deemed to be a resident for all other sources of income also.
[Section 6(5)] munotes.in
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26 2.4 RESIDENTIAL STATUS AND INCIDENCE OF TAX
Section 5, sta tes that incidence of tax on a taxpayer depends on his
residential status, the place and time of accrual or receipt of income. The
section defines the scope of income in the following manner;
4.1. Indian Income taxable in all cases:
Income received in India or deemed to be received in India or income
accruing or arising in India or deemed to be accruing or arising in India
are included in the income of every assessee regardless of his residential
status whether resident or non -resident or R & OR or R & NOR
“Ind ian income ” is not defined but generally if , any income is received
or deemed to be received in India during the relevant year or It accrues or
arises or is deemed to accrue or arise in India during the relevant year it
is called as “ Indian Income’. S ome income may be Indian income in
following circumstances: —
If income is received or deemed to be received in India during the previous
year AND it also accrues or arises or is deemed to accrue or arise in India
during the previous year.
If income is rece ived or deemed to be received in India during the previous
year BUT it accrues or arises outside India during the previous year.
If income is received outside India during the previous year but it accrues or
arises or is deemed to accrue or arise in India during the previous year.
4.2. “Foreign income” taxable in some cases
Unlike Indian Income foreign income is not chargeable to tax in all cases.
Logically, foreign income will be the income which is not Indian Income
i.e. AnyIncome is “ foreign income ” if—
a. Such incomeis not received or not deemed to be received in India; and
b. Itdoes not accrue or arise or is not deemed to accrue or arise in India.
In other words foreign income is income accruing or arising outside India
or deemed to be accruing or ari sing outside India or income received
outside India or deemed to be received outside India .,
Taxability of foreign income is as follows;
1. Foreign income is not included in the total income of a non -resident ,
2. Foreign Income is included in the total incom e of a resident and ordinarily
resident ,
3. Foreign income will not be included in the total income of a resident but not
ordinarily resident RNOR unless such income is derived from:
a business controlled in India or
A profession set up in India
Non-busine ss foreign income will not be included in the income of a
person who is resident but not ordinarily resident in India. munotes.in
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Basis of charge and Incidence of tax
27 The Scope of total income chargeable to tax is summarised as follows: Scope of total income –S 5 Status Income Resident &
Ordinarily
Resident Resident & Not
Ordinarily Resident Non Resident Indian income Taxable Taxable Taxable Foreign income Taxable Taxable if income
is from
a business
controlled from India
or
a profession set
up in India Not Taxable
Remarks:
1. Indian income taxable in all cases
2. foreign income taxable only by a ROR and conditionally by RNOR
3. Non residents liable for Indian income only
3.5 INCOME DEEMED TO BE RECEIVED IN INDIA -
S. 7
As per Section 7, the following incomes are included in the scope of total
income even if they are not actually received in India:
1. Annual accretion to the credit balance of an employee in the case of
recognized provident fund to the extent provided under rules
2. Excess contribution of employer in the case of reco gnized provident fund to
the extent as provided in the rules.
3. Transfer balance to a recognized provident fund from unrecognized
provident fund to the extent as provided under the rules.
3.6 INCOME DEEMED TO ACCRUE OR ARISE IN
INDIA
As per Section 9, whic h is a deeming section, certain incomes are deemed
to accrue or arise in India even though they may actually accrue or arise
outside India. These incomes are given below: munotes.in
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28 1. All incomes accruing or arising whether directly or indirectly through or
from -
a. Any b usiness connection in India or
b. Any property in India or
c. Any asset or any source of income in India or
d. The transfer of a capital asset situated in India.
Exceptions: No income is deemed to accrue or arise in following cases:
I. Purchase of goods India by a Non resident for Export
II. Collection of news by a non - resident running a new agency , or publishing
newspapers, magazines or journals
III. Shooting of film in India by a non - resident foreign citizen individual or a
company or firm in which no Resident In dian citizen is a partner or
shareholder
IV. Indian Income to be taken pro rata if all operations of a business not
carried in India
Explanation: The term “business connection” includes a person, who –
I. holds or habitually exercises holds an authority to conclude contract on
behalf of the non -resident, except for purchase of goods or merchandises
II. has no such authority but maintains stock of goods and merchandise in India,
from which he regularly delivers stock or merchandise on behalf of the non -
resident .
III. Secures orders in India for the non -resident and other non -resident,
controlling, controlled by or subject to the same common control as that of
non-resident.
However, there will be no business connection as above if a non -resident
carries on a business through a broker, general commission agent or any
other agent of independent status, acting in ordinary course of business.
For this purpose A broker, general commission agent or an agent shall be
deemed to be of an independent status if he does not work mainly or
wholly on behalf of the non -resident.
2. “Salary” earned in India i.e. salary payable for services rendered in India . It
also includes salary paid for the rest period or leave period preceded and
succeeded by services rendered in India and forms par t of service contract of
employment.
3. Salary received by Indian national from the government in respect of
services rendered out of India. However, any allowance or any perquisite
paid abroad is fully exempt from tax under Section 10(7).
4. Any dividend paid b y an Indian company outside India.
5. Interest payable by the government or a resident person unless such
interest is payable in respect of borrowed funds used for a business or munotes.in
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Basis of charge and Incidence of tax
29 profession carried out of India, or by a non -resident person on funds
borrowed for the business or profession carried in India
6. Royalty payable by the government or a resident person unless such
royalty is in respect of any right of property or services utilised for a
business or profession carried out of India for the purpose of earn ing any
income out of India or by a non -resident person in respect of any right of
property or services utilised for the purpose of business or profession
carried in India or for the purpose of earning any income in India).
Exception:
(i) Royalties payable for the transfer of any data, drawings, etc. outside India
or imparting of information outside India under an approved agreement by the
Central Government made before the 1st day of April, 1976.
(ii) Royalties paid In lump sum, by a resident for transfer of comput er
software, supplied by a non -resident along with the computer or computer -based
equipment under a scheme duly approved by Government of India
7. Fees for technical services payable by: by the government or a resident
person unless such fees are payable in respect of services utilised in a business
or profession for earning any income out of India or by a non -resident person for
services utilised in a business or profession carried on by him in India or for
earning any income from any source in India.
Excep tion: fees are payable under agreement made before the 1st day of April,
1976 and approved by the Central Government.
The income of a non -resident is deemed to accrue or arise in India
under any of the above clauses, shall be included in the total income of the
non-resident, whether or not,the non -resident has -
(i) a residence or place of business or business connection in India; or
(ii) has rendered services in India.
3.7 RECEIPT VS. REMITTANCE
The “receipt” of income refers to the first occasion when the recipi ent gets
the money under his control. Once an amount is received as income, any
remittance or transmission of the amount to another place does not result
in “receipt” at the other place.
3.8 ACTUAL RECEIPT VS. DEEMED RECEIPT
It is not necessary that an income should be actually received in India in
order to attract tax liability. An income deemed to be received in India in
the previous year is also included in the taxable income of the assessee.
The Act enumerates the certain incomes which were dealt with earli er.
E.g., If a resident holds an immovable property in Delhi and the rent
received thereon is transferred to his bank account in Mauritius, the rent
would still be subject to income tax though the income has not been
received in India. munotes.in
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30 3.9 RECEIPT VS. ACCRUAL
Income is said to be received when it reaches the assessee; when the right
to receive the income becomes vested in the assessee, it is said to accrue
or arise.
3.10 BASIS OF CHARGE FOR DIVIDEND INCOME
Under the companies Act, 1956, a company can declare divi dend only at
its Annual General Meeting Accordingly, U/s 8 , dividend is deemed to
be the income of the previous year in which it is declared irrespective of
the fact when it was received by the shareholder. Hence the method of
accounting for the dividen d becomes immaterial for the purposes of this
section.
But the position is quite the opposite in case of interim dividend , which is
deemed to be the income of the previous year in which the amount of such
dividend is unconditionally made available by the company to a
shareholder irrespective of the date of declaration of interim dividend.
Deemed Dividend under S 2(22) is deemed to accrue or arise in the year in
which it was paid or distributed.
This can be summarised as follows: Final Dividend Date of dec laration Interim Dividend Date of distribution Deemed dividend Date of Distribution
Illustration -16:
Determine the scope of total income in respect of the following incomes
if the assessee is a (1) resident or (2) a resident and ordinarily resident or
(3) a resident but not ordinarily resident:
Rs
Interest from U.S. Growth Bonds received in India 10,000 Interest from U.S. Growth Bonds received in U.S. 60,000 Interest from U.S. Growth Bonds received in U.S but remitted to India 60,000 Capital gain on house in Mumbai but sold in London 60,000 Capital gain on house in Mumbai but sold in Mumbai 60,000 Rent of a villa in Paris received in Paris 60,000 Rent of a villa in Paris received in Paris 60,000 Agricultural Income from Tea Gar dens in Sri Lanka received in
Sri Lanka 60,000 munotes.in
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31 Agricultural Income from Tea Gardens in Sri Lanka received in
Mumbai 60,000 Profit from a Branch in Sydney 60,000 Profit from a branch in Mumbai 60,000 Salary for working in Jaipur received in Jaipur 60,000 Salary for working in Jaipur received in Lahore 60,000 Salary for working in Lahore received in Jaipur 60,000 Salary for working in Lahore received in Lahore 60,000
Solution
Particulars R&OR R&NOR N R
Interest from Uncle Sam Bonds U.S.A.
received in India 60,000 60,000 60,000 Interest from Uncle Sam Bonds U.S.A.
received in U.S 60,000 ___ ___ Interest from Uncle Sam Bonds U.S.A.
received in U.S but remitted to India 60,000 ___ ___ Capital gain on house received in
Mumbai but sold in Lo ndon 60,000 60,000 60,000 Capital gain on house received in
Mumbai and t sold in Mumbai 60,000 60,000 60,000 Rent of a villa in Paris received in Paris 60,000 ___ ___ Rent of a villa in Paris received in
Mumbai 60,000 60,000 60,000 Agricultural In come from Tea Gardens in
Sri Lanka received in Sri Lanka 60,000 ___ ___ Agricultural Income from Tea Gardens in
Sri Lanka received in Mumbai 60,000 60,000 60,000 Profit from a Branch in Sydney 60,000 60,000* ___
Profit from a branch in Mumbai 60,000 60,000 60,000 Salary for working in Jaipur received in
Jaipur 60,000 60,000 60,000 Salary for working in Jaipur received in
Lahore 60,000 60,000 60,000 Salary for working in Lahore received in
Jaipur 60,000 60,000 60,000 Salary for working in La hore received in
Lahore 60,000 60,000 60,000 Total 9,00,000 6,60,000 6,00,000 *if controlled from India
munotes.in
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32 2.11 HEADS OF INCOME
2.11.1 Classification of income
Income tax is payable by an assessee on his total income from all the
source of income. Each source has its own unique features and requires
specific treatment for correct computation of income from that particular
source. Naturally, rules and method for computation of income from each
such source are different according to the nature of the source. These
sources of income are classified under various heads of income in section
14. These heads of income are as follows:
1) Income under the head salaries (Section 15 – 17)
2) Income from house property (Section 22 – 27)
3) Profits and gains from business or p rofession (Section 28 – 44)
4) Capital gains (Section 45 – 55)
5) Income from other sources (Section 56 – 59)
2.11.2 Importance of different heads
Each head of income provides a different scheme of computation of
taxable income under that head depending upon the nature of income and
the complexities attached with that head of income. For this reason, each
of the head of income has its own deeming provisions and provisions for
exclusions and deductions and deductions of expenses etc.
It is therefore, necessary that an income belonging to a specific head must
be computed under that head only. If an income cannot be placed under
any of the first four heads, it will be taxed under the head “Income from
other sources”.
Aggregate of net income under various heads g ives total income of the
assessee person, from which deductions are made under chapter VIA. The
net result is called the total income or sometimes taxable income.
Therefore, computation of income under different heads provides the
starting point of determ ining the tax liability.
2.11.3 Heads to be mutually exclusive
All the heads of income are mutually exclusive. If any income is
considered under a particular head e.g., Income from house property, it
will not be taken into consideration for another head e.g., Pr ofits and
Gains from business and profession.
The nature of income is such that at times, it may not be possible to have
water -tight compartmentalization.
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Basis of charge and Incidence of tax
33 Illustration 17
Under which head would the income of 3 offices are compositely let out
on rent by alongwith services like intercom, security guard, telephone
connection, furniture and fixtures, etc. of Swayam will be taxable ?
Solution
The rent in respect of the commercial property should be taxed under
“Income from House Property”. However, income a rising out of rentals of
the other services should be taxable under the head “Income from Other
Sources”. Alternatively, the entire income arising out of the property as
well as the services could be taxable as “Income from Business or
Profession”
As per d epartmental clarification, the income in respect of properties
should be taxed as “Income from House Property” and the income out of
rentals of the other services to be taxed under “Income from Other
Sources”.
2.11.4 Tax on aggregate income under all the heads
Although the income is computed under five different heads of income,
tax will be computed on the aggregate or total income from all the sources
taken together at the prescribed rates. However, different tax treatment is
given to different items. For instan ce, Long term Capital gains (LTCG)
are generally taxed at 20%. But LTCG on listed securities is exempt from
tax. Similarly, short term capital gain on sale of equity shares is taxed at
18%. The amount of such short term capital gains would be deducted fro m
the aggregate total income and accordingly tax rates are applied. Similarly,
shipping companies are taxed on the basis of tonnage of the shipping fleet.
Lotteries, horse races etc are taxed at the maximum rate of tax @ 30% All
such incomes are excluded a nd tax is computed on rest of the total income.
2.11.5 Common residential status for all the heads
S. 6 provides that where a person is resident for the purpose of any
particular head of income, he will also be considered as resident for the
purposes of computa tion of income under all the heads of income.
2.11.6 Separate sources of income under one head.
Income is classified for each head of income. That head of income may
have different sources of income falling under that head. For instance a
person may be in recei pt of his salary from more than one employer or
rent from two or more house properties or more than one business. All
such sources will be clubbed together to arrive at the income from that
head.
2.11.7 Expenses under each head of income
It may be noted that ex penses may be allowed under each head of income
according to the provisions applicable. The recent trend is to restrict and munotes.in
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34 standardize the allowance of expenditure. For instance virtually no
expenses except professional tax are allowed under the head sala ries.
Capital gains envisage deduction if only the cost of acquisition and
improvement and transfer expenses and so on and so forth.
2.11.8 Expenditure incurred in relation to income not includible in total
income
Section 14 A provides that no deduction shall b e allowed in respect of
expenditure incurred by the assessee in relation to exempted income that is
the income which does not form part of the total income under this Act
2.12 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS:
1. Why determination of residential status is important to ascertain the
income tax liability?
2. Discuss the legal provisions in respect of residential status of an
individual.
3. Briefly state the provisions for determination of the residential status
of an (a) AOP (b) Firm (c) Company.
4. What is meant by the contro l and management of business?
5. When the income is deemed to accrue or arise or be received in
India?
6. The incidence of income -tax depends upon the residential status of an
assessee”. Discuss.
7. Determine whether the following is true or false:
8. The business in come received by X Ltd. an Indian company in New
York is foreign income of X.
9. The dividend received from a foreign company in India is Indian
Income
10. Write short notes on the following:
a. Income received in India
b. Income deemed to accrue or arise in Indi a
c. Control and management of a business
11. Enumerate various heads of income under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
12. State with reason that can an Income be computed under two heads of
income.
13. How are the different heads mutually exclusive? munotes.in
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Basis of charge and Incidence of tax
35 14. Would expenses in respec t of collection of dividend be deductible
from income from other sources?
15. Ascertain residential status for the assessment years 2020 -21 and 2021 -22,of
Greg, an Australian citizen, came to India as a commentator during the
following period:
From To Purpose
10.2. 2020 20-04-2020 World Cup
6-10-2020 25-12-2020 England Tour
04-01-2021 12-01-2021 Training Camp 02-03-2021 29-03-2021 Triangular Cup
Besides, Greg was in India for 340 days in four previous years from
2016 -17, to 2019 -20 nd 260 days in thre e previous years from 2017 -18 to
2019 -20.
(Ans: 2020 -21 Non -residents, 2021 -22 R but RNOR)
16. Parthiv made his debut in international cricket on 11/03/2009. In the
first match, he was injured and had to be hospitalized. In U.S. He was
discharged from the h ospital on 29/03/2020. He returned to India took
over as coach for Indian cricket team visiting Pakistan .Parthiv submits the
following details of his stay outside India :
From To Purpose/ Place
10.4. 2020 28-04-2020 World Cup in Dhaka 03-05-2020 09-07-2020 England Tour
27-08-2020 10-09-2020 Canada Tour
11-09-2020 01-10-2020 US holidays
04-01-2021 26-03-2021 Pakistan Tour
(Ans: Non -Resident)
17. Ashok, an Indian citizen, leaves India on May 22, 2020 for vacation
to Uganda and returns on April 9, 2 021. Determine the residential status of
X for the assessment year 2021 -22? (Ans: Non -Resident)
18. Determine the residential status for the assessment year 2021 -22 , of
Sheila, a foreign citizen , who visits India since 1995 every year for a
period of 100 da ys
(Ans: Non -Resident ) munotes.in
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36 19. Fletcher, a foreign citizen comes to India, for the first time on March
20, 2020. On September 1, 2020, he leaves India for Nepal on a business
trip. He comes back on February 26, 2021 to permanently stay in India .
Determine the r esidential status of X for the assessment year 2020 -21 and
2021 -22.
( Ans Resident and Not Ordinarily Resident for both the years )
20. Determine residential status for the assessment year 2021 -22 of Marconi, an
Italian citizen, who comes to India for the firs t time on May 28, 2020.
(Ans: Resident and Not Ordinarily Resident)
21. Determine the scope of total income in respect of the following
incomes if the assessee is a (1) resident or (2) a resident and ordinarily
resident or (3) a resident but not ordinarily re sident
New York business income controlled from India Rs. 100000
Mumbai Business Controlled from Paris Rs. 40000 Salary in New York as Indian ambassador Rs. 90000 Profit on sale of shop in Kolkata paid in Karachi Rs. 50000 Acting in Indian film –fee received in Rome Rs. 70000 Past untaxed profits remitted to India from London Rs. 120000 (Ans. Resident 350000, R & OR 250000, R& NOR 350000/ past profits not taxable)
22. Blair, a French Citizen had the following incomes during the year ended
31/3/2 021. Compute his Total Income for Asst. Year 2021 -22 if he is a (1)
resident or (2) a resident and ordinarily resident or (3) a resident but not
ordinarily resident.
Income from House property in India Rs. 30000
Income from property in Rome Rs. 20000
Interest from Bank account in India Rs. 2400
Income from business in Bangladesh controlled from India Rs.32000
Interest from Bank account in U.S. Rs. 22000
Salary earned and received in Tokyo Rs. 24000
Income earned and received in London Rs. 26000
Dividend from British Company received in India Rs.34000
(Ans. Resident 19400, R&OR Rs. 98600 R but NOR Rs 66400)
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37 23. Following are the particulars of income of X for the previous year 202 -21:
i. X is employed in India and receives Rs. 24,000 as salary.
ii. Dividend received in London on June 3, 2020: Rs. 31,000 from a foreign
company;
iii. Share of profit received in London on December 15, 2020 from a business
situated in Sri Lanka but controlled from India:
iv. Rs. 60,000; remittance from London on January 15, 2021 out of past
untaxed profit of 2013 -14 earned and received there: Rs. 30,000 and interest
earned and received in India on May 11, 2021 Rs. 76,000.
Find out his gross total income, if he is (a) resident and ordinarily resident,
(b) resident but not ordinari ly resident, and (c) non -resident for the
assessment year 2021 -22
(Ans: R&OR, his gross total income will be Rs. 105000i.e. Rs. 24,000 + Rs. 31,000 +
Rs. 60,000 R& N OR Rs. 84,000 i.e., Rs. 24,000 + Rs. 60,000). Non -resident, Rs.24,000.
The remittance fro m London of Rs. 30,000 is not taxable it is not “receipt” of income.
The interest of Rs. 76,000 earned and received in India is taxable 2013 -14. )
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38 3
SALARIES
(Sections 15, 16 & 17)
Unit Structure
3.1 Introduction and Objectives
3.2 Basis of Charge and Meaning and characteristics
3.3 Scope of salary income
3.4 Tax Treatment of some receipts:
[ Basic Salary, Fees, Comm ission and Bonus, Arrears of Salaries,
Advance salary, Gratuity, Comm uted Pension, Leave Salary,
Retrenchment compensation, House Rent Allowance (S.10-13A), Pension
to Gallantry award winners ]
3.5 Taxable Value of Cash Allowances-
[Taxable, Wholly exempt and partly tax-free Allowances]
3.6 Taxable Value of Perquisites
3.7 Classification of Perquisites
3.8 Valuation of Perquisites
3.9 Profits in lieu of Salary
3.10 Deductions -Entertainment Allowance, Profession Tax
3.11 Practical illustrations
3.12 Self Assessment Questions
3.1 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES:
Among the five heads of income listed by S.14, “Salaries” is the first and
most important head of income. The concept of “Salaries” is very wide
and includes not only the salary in common parlance but also various
other receipts, gifts, perquisites and ben efits.
The lesson is divided into various sections dealing with the concept of
salary income and its characteristics, which define as to what constitutes
“salaries” followed by the incomes falling under this head the
compu tation of basic salary, types of allowances and perquisites,
valuation of the perquisites, various income tax provisions for computing
taxable value of allowances etc and their detailed descriptions along with
the applicable legal provisions of income tax. munotes.in
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Salaries
39 3.2 BASIS OF CHARGE AND MEANING
2.1. Basis of charge
Section 15 provides the basis and scope of charging salaries to income
tax:
any salary due from an employer or a former employer to an
assessee in the previous year whether actually paid or not,
any salary paid or allowed to him in the previous year by an
employer or former employer to an assessee in the previous year
whether actually paid or not, and
any arrears of salary paid or allowed to him in the previous year by
an employer or a former employer if not charged to income tax for
any earlier previous year.
Section 16 and Section 17 respectively prescribe the deductions to be
made while computing the income from salary and explain the te rms
2.2. Meaning and Characteristics
To determine, whether any particular income is to be taxed under the
head ‘’Salaries’’ or not, many test and norms and essential
characteristics are ob served. These are discussed as unde r:
Employer-Employee Relationship:
Salary means remuneration received by a person from his employer
for rendering personal services to him under an expressed or
implied contract of employment or service. It implies the existence of
employer-employee relationship between the payer of income and
receiver of income. The services must be rendered in the capacity of an
employer and not in any other capacity. For example, services
rendered by professionals like doctors, architects; lawyers etc. to
their clients are not as employees but in the course of their profession.
Accordingly, fees received by them will not be covered under the head
“salaries’ but under the head “profits and gains from business or
profession”. By contrast, a doctor in employment with a hospital will
be an employee and his salary will be covered under this head.
Com pensation for services rendered:
The payment must be made to an employee by the employer as
compensation for the services rendered by the employee. However,
payment made in other forms like gift, perquisites are also included
in the definition of the term “salary’’
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40 Name or form not important:
Salary will be treated as salary regardless of name given to it or the form
or mode of payment. Salary may be paid in cash or kind. It may be called
as salary or wages. In all cases, it will be treated as salary so long as the
relationship between the payer and payee is that of employer and
employee and the payment is made as a compensation for the services
rendered by the employee.
More than One Sources :
Salary may be from more than one employer.
Type of Employment:
Salary may be in any capacity like part-time employment or full time
employment.
Past, Present and prospective employer
Salary may be received from not just the present employer but also a
prospective employer and in some cases even from a former employer for
example pension received from a former emp loyer.
Real intention to pay :
Salary income must be real and not fictitious. There must exist an
intention or an obligation to pay and `receive salary.
Subsequent Surrender of Salary not tax-free;
Salary is taxed on due basis. A subsequent surrender of the salary will
not be tax-free except where an employee surrende rs his salary to the
central government, and then the salary so surrendered will not be
treated as taxable income of the employee.
Tax- Free salary
Salary paid as tax free is also taxable in the hands of the employee,
though contractually income tax on such is borne not by the employee but
by the employer.
Time of taxability;
Salary is taxable in the year of receipt or in the year of earning or
accrual of the salary income, whichever is earlier. In other words
advance salary will be taxed when received and unpaid salary will be
taxed on accrual , i.e. if the salary has been received first, then it will be
taxable in the year of receipt. If salary has been earned but not received,
then it will be taxable in the year of earning. However, salary once
taxed shall not be subjected to tax again; .Accordingly accounting
method employed by the employee is not relevant to determine the
taxability of salary. munotes.in
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Salaries
41
Salary received by individuals only
Salary is a compensation for personalised services, which can
obviously be rendered by a normal human being and not a body
corporate. Salary income is taxable in the hands of individuals only. No
other type of person such as a firm or HUF, companies can earn salary
income.
Voluntary payments taxable as salary
Voluntary payments like gift etc also form the part of taxable salary.
Salary in respect of services rendered in India
Salary, leave salary and pension even if paid outside India are deemed
u/s 9 to accrue and arise in India and are taxable in India. Further, Salary
paid to Indian diplomats by the Government of India is deemed to
accrue and arise in India although the same is exempted e u/s 10.
Gross salary Taxable;
Compulsory deductions from salary such as employees’ contribution
to p rovident fund, deduction for medical scheme or staff welfare
scheme etc. are examples of instances of application of income. In these
cases, for computing total income, these deductions have to be added
back.
3.3 SCOPE OF SALARY INCOME
3.1. Section 15 provides the b asis of charging salary income and section
17 explains it. Se ction 17 gives an inclusive definition of salary.
Salary includes:
a. Wages;
b. Any Pension or Annuity;
c. Any Gratuity;
d. Any fees, comm ission, perquisites or profits in lieu of or in addition
to salary or wages;
e. Any advance of salary;
f. Any encashment of leave salary;
g. Annu al accreditation to provident fund above the prescribed
limits; and
h. Any amount of credit to provident fund of employee to the extent it is
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42 3.2. The term “salary" includes not only the basic salary but also Fees,
Commission, Bonus, taxable value of cash allowances and p erquisites,
Retirement Benefits, encashment of leave salary, advance of salary,
arrears of salary, various allowances such as dearness allowance,
entertainment allowance, house rent allowance, conveyance allowance
and also includes perquisites by way of free housing, free car, free
schooling for children of employees, etc. Tax treatment of all such
receipts is given below.
3.4 TAX TREATMENT OF CERTAIN RECE IPTS
4.1. Basic Salary
Basic salary is fixed as per their respective terms of employment. It may
be either a fixed amount or at a graded system of salary. Under the
graded system, apart from starting basic, salary annual increments are pre-
fixed. The form of salary is for example 12000-300-15000-500-20,000.
In this case, the starting basis salary of the employee will be Rs
12,000 and he will be given an annual increment of Rs. 300 till he
reaches at the salary level of Rs 15,000. After reaching Rs 12,000, the
increment will be Rs. 500 per annum till he reaches the level of Rs
20,000. No further increment is given thereafter till next date of
increment or the date when he is promoted and placed in other grade.
4.2. Fees, Commission and Bonus
Any fees, commission or bonus or incentive paid or payable to an
employee by an employer is fully taxable and is included in salary. Such
Commission etc may be payable as a fixed amount or as a percentage
of turnover or partly fixed and partly as a percentage of turnover.
When commission is based on fixed percentage of turnover achieved
by employee, it is included in basic salary for the purpose of grant of
retirement benefits and for computing certain exemptions discussed later
4.3. Arrears of salary:
Arrears of salary are taxed on receipt basis, if the same has not been taxed
earlier. However, relief u/s 89 will be allowed in respect of such arrears.
4.4. Advance Salary:
Advance Salary is taxable on receipt basis in the year of receipt; however
there will be no tax in the year of actual accrual of such salary again.
Further assessee shall be entitled to relief u/s 89 in respect of advance
salary. Loan to employee is not treated as advance of salary and
the same is not taxable.
4.5. Gratuity (Section 10(10):
Gratuity is a lump-sum payment to reward an employee for his past
services, on his retirement or te rmination. Sec .10 gives tax of treatment
of gratuity as under- munotes.in
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Salaries
43 1 Amount received as gratuity on termination as per service rules is
Fully EXEMPT in case of employees of Central or State governments
or local authorities .
2. Other employees in a concern covered under the Payment of
Gratuity Act, 1972 EXEMP TED amount would be lowest of the
following:
a. Amount of gratuity received, b. Rs 20,00,000
c. 15 days’ salary for every completed or part thereof in excess of six
months, year of service computed based on last salary drawn taking
numerator of 26.
*Completed year of service X 15 days X Last Drawn Salary
26
3. Other employees in a concern NOT covered under the
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 EXEMPTED amount would be lowest
of the following:
a. Amount of gratuity received, b. Rs 20,00,000
Half month’s salary for every completed year of service in excess of
six months (ignoring the fraction) computed based on average salary of
last 10 months preceding the retirement.
*Completed year of service* ½* Avg Salary for last 10 months
[*Completed year of service includes a year or part thereof in
excess of six months]
Illustrations -1
Ashik, a government servant, retires 1 June 2021 a fter 22 years
and 9 months’ service. He receives gratuity of Rs 25,00,000 . Determine
the Determine the amount of exemption of gratuity if he was drawing a
basic Salary for 10 months preceding the month of his retirement at Rs
40,000 p.m.
Solution
Since A is a government employee, amount received as gratuity on
retirement is fully exempt U/s 10(10).
Illustrations-2
In the above case, what will be the effect if Ashik was working
with ABC Limited, covered under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972?
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44 Solution:
Since Ashik is the employee of a private employer XYZ Limited covered
under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, exempt amount will be Rs
5,30,769 being the least of the following: nt received Rs 25,00,000 II. Notified amount Rs. 20,00,000
15-day’s salary based on last drawn salary Rs.40, 000* 15/26 *23 years Rs 5, 30,769 Taxable (Actual Received – Least Exption) Rs. 19,69,231
Illustrations-3
In the above case, what will be the effect if ABC Limited is NOT
covered under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972?
Solution:
Since Ashik is the e mployee of a private employer XYZ Limited
not covered under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, exempt
amount will be Rs. 4, 60,000 being the least of the following: I. Actual amount received Rs 25,00,000 II. Notified amount Rs. 20,00,000
15 day’s salary based on last drawn
salary Rs.40, 000* 15/26 *23 years Rs 4,60,000 Balance Taxable Rs 20,40,000
4.6. Commuted Pension (Section 10(10A) :
On retirement of an employer, the employer makes a regular payment to
the employee as a reward for his past services. The regular payment so
made at monthly or annual intervals is called pension. Some employers
allow an employee to forgo a portion of pension in lieu of lump sum
amount. This is known as commutation of pension.
Tax treatment of these two kinds of pension is as under:
a) Regular payment of pension (mont hly or quarterly or at some other
interval Periodical or uncommuted pension is fully taxable in the
hands of all employees, whether government or non-
government.
b) Tax treatment of comm uted pension will be as follows:
i. Lump sum payment receive on commutat ion of pension as per
service rules is fully exempt for employees of the Central or
State Government or a Lo cal Authority or a Statuto ry
Corporation munotes.in
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Salaries
45 ii. For other employees receiving such lump sum pension., the
exemption is under :
One half of the total value of pension If the employee has
not received any gratuity on termination of employment,
and
One-third of the total value of pension, if the employee has
received any gratuity on termination of emp loyment.
Illustration-4
Determine the amount of taxable pension if A receives a monthly
pension of Rs 50,000 from the government.
Solution:
Uncommuted monthly payment of pension received from government will
be fully taxable.
Illustration-5
Determine the amount of taxable pension if A receives a monthly
pension of Rs 50,000 a private limited company.
Solution:
Uncommuted mont hly payment of pension from a private company will
also be fully taxable. It is immaterial who the employer is.
Illustration-6.
Determine the taxability in the hands of A, who retires from government
service on 1/6/2020 and receives a pension of 5000 p.m. till
31/12/2020. On 01/01/ 2021, A opts for commutation of 40 per cent of
the value of his pension for a lump sum amount of Rs 1, 20, 000. After
the commutation, A gets pension @ Rs 3,000 per month being 60% of
the total pension. No gratuity is paid to A.
Solution:
Lump sum amount of Rs. 1,20,000 received on commutation of
pension will be exempt as A is a government employee
Pension Received during 2020-21
NIL01-06-2020 to 31-12-2020 =7 months Rs 5000 p. m 35000
01-01-2021 to 31-03-2021= 3 months Rs 3000 p.m. 9,000
Total Regular Pension fully taxable Rs 44,000
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46 Illustration-7
What will be the position in the above illustration if A is a private
employee?
Solution;
a. Regular pension of Rs 44,000 will be taxable irrespective of the fact
that A is government employee or a private employee or whether or
not he is in receipt of any gratuity.
b. Commutat ion of Pension
Amount Received on commutation of 40% of salary 1,20,000
Full Value of Pension = 1,20,000 /40% 3,00,000
Amount Received during on commutation 1,20,000
½ of Full Value of Pension Rs 3,00,000* ½ 1,50,000
Exempted Amount - being the lower of the two 1,20,000
Taxable Amount [1,20,000-1,20000] NIL
Illustration-8
Ascertain the taxability if A also receives Rs 50,000 as gratuity.
Solution:
a. Regular pension of Rs. 44,000 will always be taxable.
b. A is in receipt of gratuity, hence he will be entitled to exemption
equivalent to 1/3 of full value of pension of Rs 1,00,000 only. Balance
Rs 20,000 will be taxable.
4.7. Encashment of Leave Salary {Section 10(10AA)}
When an employee, instead of enjoying leave at his credit, gets the same
encashed following tax treatment will be given:-
a. Amount received on encashment of leave during the continuity
of employment by all the employees, will be taxable in the year of
receipt. However, the employee will be entitled to relief u/s 89.
b. Amount received on encashment of leave at the time of retirement
by way of superannuation or otherwise, by
a. an employee of the Central or State Government will be fully
exempt and
b. any other employees including employees of a local authority or a
statutory corporation, would be exempt at the lowest of the following
and only the balance will be taxable:- munotes.in
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47
i. Actual amount received
ii. Notified Amount currently Rs 3,00,000;
iii. 10 months’ average salary or
iv. Cash equivalent of leave to be encashed
i.e. (Leave Entitlement - Leave Availed) X Average Salary
Other Points
i. Salary for the purpose of calculating the exempt leave encashment
means total of b asic salary, dearness allowance and commission on
sales achieved by salesmen.
ii. Average salary means average salary of 10 months immediately
preceding the retirement.
iii. Leave entitlement is to be taken at 30 days for each completed
year of service. Part of the year will not be considered as completed
year of service.
iv. If leave is encashed from more than one employers, the
exemption limit will be taken in respect of all the employers.
v. Supe rannuation means retirement on attaining a certain age e.g. 60
years. Courts have held that termination and even resignation of the
employee will entitle them to exemption under this section.
vi. Leave to the credit of the employee means total leave available
as reduced by total leave availed.
Illustration- 9
A is government servant working the Government of Maharashtra.
A retires on 01/06/ 2020 after rendering services for
22 years and 9 months. He was drawing a basic Salary for 10
months preceding the mo nth of his retirement at Rs 8000 p.m.
Under the service rules, A was entitled to 2 months’ leave for every year
of service or part thereof against which A availed total earned leave of 10
months.
On Retirement, A received Rs 2,88,000 as leave encashment
being Rs 8,000 per month for 36 months i.e. Total Leave earned 2
months per year for 23 years -46 Months Minus leave taken 10 Months)
Compute amount of exemption of encashment of leave salary
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48 Solution:
Since A is a government employee amount, received as leave
encashment on retirement is fully exempt U/s 10(10AA).
Illustration-10
What will be the exempt amount if A was employed with MSFC?
Solution:
MSFC is a statutory corporation not regarded as government. Hence,
exemption would be at par with a private employee and worked out as the
least of the following:
Rs. Amount Received on leave encashment 2,88,000 Notified Amount 3,00,000 10 months’ average pay@ Rs. 8,000 p. 80,000 Encashment of unavailed leave 12* Months @ Rs 8,000 96,000 Exempted Amount - being the lower of the two 80,000 Taxable Amount [2,88,000-80,000] 2,08,000
[*Leave entitlement – 22 months – Leave availed 10 Months ignoring
fractional period of service of 9 months as it is not rounded off .]
Illustration-11
What will be the exempt amount if A receives it while i n service?
Solution
Leave encashment of Rs 2,88, 000 during the continuan ce of
employment will be fully taxable regardless of the fact who the employer
is .
IMP - The time and notified amount (wherever applicable in this lesson)
should technically be available in question itself as the rules are not
in syllabus.
4.8. Retrenchment compensation –S.10 (10B)
Any compensation received by a workman at the time of
retrenchment or closure or transfer of unde rtaking including change of
management resulting in interruption of service is exempt fully if it is
paid under a scheme of closure approved by the central government and
in other cases, least of the following amounts would be exempt:
Notified amount presently Rs. 5,00,000
15 days’ average pay for every completed year of service or any part
thereof in excess of six months
Actual amount. munotes.in
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49 Actual Amount Received 1,50,000 Notified Amount 5,00,000 #10-1/2 months’ average salary 1,42,500 Rs 15,000 per month Exempted ( Lowest of the above 1,42,500 Taxable 1,50,000-1,42,500 7,500 Other points;
Compen sation under a Voluntary Retirement Scheme is also
exempt u/s1010C.
Where an assessee has to pay higher tax on account of such lump
sum receipts, he is entitled to relief u/s 89.
However, that once an exemption under this section has been
claimed relief u/s 89[1] will not be available.
Illustration-12:
A workman was retrenched after 20 year and 10 months service His
average salary was Rs 15,000 per month. He was paid Rs 1,80,000 as the
retrenchment compensation. Calculate the exempted amount.
Solution
The exempt amount will be least of the following: Rs.
#(15 days for 20 years and 10 months rounded off to next number.
Relief u/s 89 not available if he claims the above exemption..
4.9. House Rent Allowance (Section 10-13A)
House Rent Allowance or HRA paid by the employer to the employee to
meet the housing expenses of the employee, is exempt from tax U/s
10(13A)being the least of the following :
HRA actually received.
Rent paid by employee in excess of 10 per cent of salary during the
previous year.
50 per cent of salary, if employee is residing in the 4 metro cities of
Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or Kolkata and 40 per cent of salary, if the
employee is residing at any other place.
Salary for the purpose of calculating the amount of deduction from HRA
means the agg regate of Basic Salary, Dearness Allowance and
Commission received by salesman on sales achieved by him but it
does not include other receipts such as overtime pay, conveyance
allowance, etc. munotes.in
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50 Actual HRA Received 25,000 Rent paid in excess of 10 % of salary 5,000 15,000- {10 %( 65,000+35,000)} 50% of salary 50,000 Exempted ( Lowest of the above) 5,000 Taxable 25,000-5,000 20,000 In simple words, so long, the rent paid is upto 10% of the salary, no HRA
will be exempt. It is only if the rent paid is more than 10 % , then
the actual HRA may be exempt to the extent of 40% or 50% of the
salary.
Illustrations-13:
Calculate the amount of HRA exempt U/s 10(13A) in respect of
an employee residing in Mumbai who was in receipt of basis salary of
Rs. 65,000 Dearness allowance of Rs. 35,000 and HRA of Rs 25,000. and
he paid the actual rent of Rs 15,000 per ann um.
Solution:
Exemption of HRA will be the least of the following: Rs.
Illustrations-14:
Compute the exempt HRA If rent paid is Rs. 50,000 .
Solution:
Rs.
Actual HRA Received 25,000
Rent paid in excess of 10 % of salary 40,000
50,000 - {10 %( 65,000+35,000)}
50% of salary 50,000
Exempted ( Lowest of the above 25,000
Taxable 25,000 -25,000 NIL
Illustrations-15:
Calculate the amount of HRA exempt U/s 10(13A) in respect of
an employee residing in Agra who was in receipt of basis salary of
Rs. 65,000 Dearness allowance of Rs. 35,000 and HRA of Rs 60,000 and
he pa id the actual rent of Rs 50,000 per annum .
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51 Solution:
Actual HRA Received 60,000 Rent paid in excess of 10 % of salary 40,000 50,000- {10 %( 65,000+35,000)} 40% of salary 40,000 Exempted ( Lowest of the above 40,000 Taxable 60,000-40,000 20,000
3.5 TAXABLE VALUE OF CASH ALLOWANCES:
Allowance is a fixed monetary amount paid by the employer to the
employee over and above basic salary for meeting certain expenses,
whether personal or for the performance of his duties. As a rule, all
allowances are taxable and included in gross salary unless specific
exemption is provided in respect of such allowance. Accordingly, the
allowances are of three types: categories –
1. Fully taxable,
2. Partially exempt and
3. Fully exempt cash allowances.
Moreover, some allowances are unconditionally exempted but in other
cases such as HRA, exempt ion is subject to fulfillment of some
conditions. Then In some cases like Transport Allowance, exemption is
allowed in respect of a prescribed sum only on ad hoc basis.
Some of these allowances are dealt with in the paras to follow.
5.1. Allowances Fully Taxable :
a. Dearness Allowance, a compensatory allowance paid to meet
high prices and increased cost of living, - S 15 & 17
b. City Compensatory Allowance also a compensatory allowance
paid to employees posted in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai to
compensate the high cost of living in such cities
c. Non- practicing Allowance normally paid to compensate
professionals in government service like doctors, chartered
accountants, engineers, scientists etc , who are prohibited from doing
private practice,
d. Warden or Proctor Allowance paid in educational institutions for
working as a Warden of the hostel or as a Proctor in the institution,
e. Deputation Allowance paid to an employee sent from his permanent
place of service to some place or institute on deputation for a
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52 f. Overtime Allowance paid as extra wages paid to an employee putting
in extra working hours over and above his normal hours of duty,
g. Servant Allowance, if paid in cash even if servants may have been
employed by the employee.
h. Other Allowances by whatever name called such as family allowance,
project allowance, Marriage allowance, education allowance, and
holiday allowance as the se allowances are not specifically exempt.
5.2. Wholly and unconditionally exempt Allowances
a. Allowances to Judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court,
b. Allowances by the Unites Nations organization to its emp loyees.
c. Foreign allowance paid by the government to its employees being
Indian citizen posted out of India for rendering services abroad
d. Pension to Gallantry award winners like Paramvir Chakra,
Mahavir Chakra , Vir Chakra etc - S. 10(18)
5.3. Wholly or partly tax-free Allowances:
Following allowance are wholly or partly tax -free. Some of the
exemptions are conditional. Most of the conditions and monetary
limits, though prescribed in rules are incorporated in brief to make the
subject comprehensive. Brief description of these allowances is as follows
a. Entertainment Allowance- S.16 (ii)
Entertainment Allowance to the employee for entertaining the
business relations and clientele of the employer is fully taxable by the
private sector employees even if the entire amount may have been
spent by them.
Government employees are entitled to a deduction/s16 (ii) upto 20 per
cent of Basic Salary subject to a maximum of Rs 5,000 per annum,
whichever is lower. Full amount is first included in the salary and then
the exempted amount is reduced.
b. Fixed Medical Allowances
Fixed Medical Expenses are taxable but reimbursement of medical
expenses is however exempt upto Rs 15,000
c. Tiffin / Lunch Allowance
Tiffin / Lunch Allowance paid in cash is fully taxable but Cost of
Lunch provided to e mployees on their work place or even lunch
coupons redeemable with restaurants is a tax-free perquisite subject
to fulfillment of certain conditions prescribed by the CBDT.
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53 d. Transport Allowance- S 10(14)
Any allowance or benefit given to meet the expense wholly and
necessarily in the course of employment is fully exempt u/10(14)
subject to the assessee presenting the proof in this regard.
Under Rule 2BB ,Transport or conveyance allowance paid to meet
conveyance expenses of the employee from place of residence to
place of work and back is exempt upto Rs 800 per month ( Rs 1,600 in
case of a handicapped employee) .
For example, if A is in receipt transport allowance @ Rs 1,000 per
month, Rs 200 per month (Rs 1000-Rs 800) will be included in total
income of A
e. Other allowances for official purposes-S 10(14) ;
If any allowances ( other conveyance between residence and office )
are given for official purposes, ded uction of amount actually spent
from those allowances by the employee in meeting the official expenses
will be allowed at a de duction u/s 10(14) from the total amount of
allowances received.
For instance, An employee receives Uniform allowance of Rs 5000
but spends only Rs 4000, towards the uniform, then Rs1000 will be
taxable in the hands of the employee. Some other examples of these
allowances paid for meeting official expenditure incurred exclusively in
performance of official duties are travelling allowance, daily allowance,
conveyance allowance, helper allowance, research allowance.
f. Education Allowance:
Education Allowance given to meet the education expenses of the
employee’s is taxable in hands of employee. However, under rule 2BB
a sum of Rs100 per month per child subject to maximum of two children
is allowed as exemption from total education allowance received by the
employee in a given year. If the children of the employee are residing in
a hostel, an additional exemption of Rs 300 per month per child
subject to maximum of two children is made available to the employee.
Therefore if the employee has two children and who are residing in a
hostel and the employee is giving total education allowance of Rs 1000
per month, the taxable amount will be (1000-800) i.e. Rs 200 per month
only.
g. Out of station allowance
An allowance granted to an employee working in a transport system to
meet his personal expenses in performance of his duty in the course of
running of such transport from one place to another is exempt upto 70%
of such allowance or Rs.6000 per month, whichever is less.
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54 3.6 TAXABLE VALUE OF PER QUISITES
6.1. Definition and Meaning of Perquisites:
Section 17(2), deals with the taxability of perquisites but it does not
define the term it. Therefore, turning to normal commercial meaning,
perquisites may be called as any casual emolument or benefits attached
to an office or position in addition to salary or wages normally given
in kind and not in cash but capable of being measurable in money
terms.
6.2. Taxability of perquisites:
Perquisites are included in gross taxable salary only if they are:
allowed by an employer to an employee,
allowed during the continuation of employment,
directly dependent on service,
resulting in the nature of personal advantage to the employee; and
derived by virtue of employer’s authority.
6.3. Taxable perquisites
Sec. 17 (2) provides the following list of taxable perquisites :
i. Value of rent-free accommodation provided to the employee by the
employer.
ii. Value of concession in the matter of rent in respect of
accommodation provided to the employee by his employer.
iii. Value of any benefit or amenity granted free of cost or at a
concessional rate in any of the following cases:
a) by a company to an employee who is a director thereof
b) by a company to an employee who has substantial interest in the
company
c) by any employer to an employee who neither is a director, nor has
substantial interest in the company, but his monetary
emoluments under the head ‘Salaries’ exceeds Rs.50,000.
iv. Any sum paid by the employer towards any obligation of the
employee
v. Any sum payable by employer to effect an assurance on the life of
assessee
vi. The value of any other fringe benefit given to the employee as may
be prescribed. munotes.in
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55 6.4. Classification of Perquisites
On an analysis of Section 17(2), the perquisites are of three broad
categories :
Perquisites taxable in all cases
Perquisites not taxable at all
Perquisites taxable only in the hands of specified employees
only
A. Perquisites taxable in all cases:
U/s 17(2) the following perquisites are taxable in the hands of all type
of employees, whether specified or not:
1. Value of Rent free house provided by employer
2. Value of house provided at concessional rate
3. Any obligation of employee discharged by employer e.g. payment
of club or hotel bills of employee, salary to domestic servants engaged
by employee, payment of school fees of employees’ children etc.
4. Any sum paid by employer in respect of insurance premium on the life
of employee
B. Perquisites, which are tax-free for all the employees
Section 17 specifically states the some benefits will not be taxed at all in
the hand of the employees and as such, they are exempt from income tax
.these perquisites are given below:
a. Medical benefits within India :
Medical benefits within India, which are exempt from tax, include
the following:
a) Medical treatment provided to an employee or any member of his
family in a hospital maintained by the employer.
b) Any sum paid by the employer in respect of any expenditure incurred
by the employee on medical treatment of himself and members of his
family:
(i) in a hospital maintained by government or local authority or
approved by the government for medical treatment of its emp loyees.
(ii) In respect of the prescribed diseases or ailments in any hospital
approved by the Chief Commissioner.
c) If the ordinary medical treatment of the employee or any member
of his family is done at any private hospital, nursing home or clinic,
the exemption is restricted to Rs.15000. munotes.in
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56 b. Medical benefits outside India
Medical Treatment outside India, which is exempt from tax, includes the
following:
a) Any expenditure incurred by employer on the medical treatment of
the employee or any member of his family outside India.
b) Any expenditure incurred by employer on travel and stay abroad of
the patient (employee or member of his family) and one
attendant who accompanies the patient in connection with such
treatment, shall be exempt to the following extent :
(i) The expenditure on medical treatment and stay abroad shall be exempt
to the extent permitted by the Reserve Bank of India.
(ii) The expenditure on travel shall be exempt in full provided the gross
total income of the employee (including this expenditure) does not
exceed Rs.2,00 ,000.
c. Medical Health Insurance within India
Following are exempted perquisites in respect of medical Health
Insurance
Premium paid by the employer on health insurance of the employee
under an approved scheme u/s 36(1)(ib)
Premium on insurance of health of an employee or his family
members paid by employer on any scheme approved u/s 80D
(Mediclaim).
d. ESOP or Sweat Equity
Any bene fit provided by a company free of cost or at a concessional rate
to its e mployees by way of allotment of shares, debentures or
warrants directly or indirectly under any Employees Stock Option Plan or
Scheme ESOP/ESOS of the company offered to such employees in
accordance with the guidelines issued in this behalf by the Central
Government. However, the difference between the fair Market Value and
the issue price will be treated, when such equity is issued at concessional
price, as the taxable perquisite value of ESOP
e. Transport
Amenity or benefit granted or provided free of cost or at concessional rate
for use of any vehicle provided by a company or an employer for
journey by the assessee from his residence to his office or other place
of work, or from such office or place to his residence,
f. Refreshments
Refreshment provided by an employer to the employee during working
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57 g. Others:
a. Value of Leave Travel Concession in India.
b. Amount spent by the employer as its contribution to staff welfare
schemes.
c. Laptops and computers provided for personal use.
d. Rent free official accommodation provided to a Judge of High
Court or Supreme Court or an official of Parliament including
Minister and Leader of Opposition in Parliament.
e. Recreational facilities extended not to a particular employee but to a
class of employees.
f. Amount spent on training of employee or fees paid for refresher
course.
g. Telepho ne provided to an employee at his residence.
h. Goods manufactured by the employer sold to emp loyees at
concessional rates
i. Allowances to employees of UNO
Since FBT has been discontinued, value of cars and other perquisites will
be taxable in the hands of the employees.
C. Perquisites taxable in case of Specified Employees only
U/s 17(2)(iii) the value of any benefit or amenity granted or provided
free of cost or at concessional rate Specified
Employees only will be taxable and Specified Employees means an
employee who is
a director of or
who has a substantial interest i.e. more than 20 % voting power in
the company; where he is employed or
Any other employee (of any employer including a company)
whose income [unde r the head Salaries exceeds fifty thousand
rupees
Salary for th is purpose means salary due from, or paid or
allowed by, one or more employers, exclusive of the value of all
benefits or am enities not provided for by way of monetary payment,
The following perquisites are taxable in case of such employees:
1. Free supply of gas, electricity or water supply for household
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58
2. Free or concessional educational facilities to the membe rs of
employees household
3. Free or concessional transport facilities
4. Sweeper, watchman, gardener and personal attendant
5. Any other benefit or amenity
3.7 VALUATION OF PERQUISITES:
Perquisites are taxable in the hands of the employee. However since
they are paid in kind, notional monetary the value of the perquisites
must be determined in order to get the taxable amount of perquisites.
There are some broad principles for determining the method of
calculation of value of taxable perquisites. Briefly, these principles
may be stated as follows:
If the perquisite is entirely for personal benefits, then whatever the
employer has spent for providing those perquisites will be added to
the salary income of the employee.
If the perquisite is given by employer to employee for official
purposes only, then such pe rquisites are not be treated as taxable
perquisites in the hands of employee.
Perquisites which are partly used for personal purposes and partly
for official purposes - In such cases a reasonable amount of the value
of perquisites which is used for personal purposes only will be added
to the salary income of the employee.
Though the actual valuation rule are beyond the scope of the syllabus,
gene ral principles for valuation of perquisites may be considered
a. Accommodation & Furniture
Valuation of furnished and unfurnished accommodation is made
according to Va luation Rules. If the furnishings are owned by the
employer then 10 per cent of the cost will be added to the value of
accommodation.
b. Transport
Broadly no perquisite value is taken in the hands of individual
employees in three cases:
Common transport such as bus provided to all the
employees,
If the employer is in the transport business. munotes.in
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59 If a car is provided only for official use or for the purpose of travel
from residence to office.
In other cases a reasonable cost of such transport facilities will be
treated as taxable value of perquisites in respect of such facilities
If the car has been provided for personal uses only, then the taxable
amount is reasonable expenses on the car maintenan ce plus depreciation
on the car as per income tax rules if the car is owned by the employer.
If the car is used for private as well as for official purposes then a
reasonable proportion of, the above is the valuation of the car
perquisite in the hands of the employee.
c. Domestic servant
Salary of domestic servants of employer paid by the employer,
perquisite value will be taken as per rules.
d. Gas, water or electricity:
If the employer himself is engaged in the business of providing
supply of gas, water, or electricity, then there will not be any taxable
perquisite in the hands of the employee in respect of such
facilities.
If the employer is not in the business of supply of gas, water or
electricity, then the amount spent by the employee in providing the
facilities to the employee will be the taxable value of perquisites in
the hands of the employee provided the entire facilities are for the
personal use of the employees only. Any amount recovered from the
employee will be reduced from the perquisite value.
Where the connection for gas, electricity, water supply is in the
name of employee and the bills are paid or reimbursed by the
employer, it is an obligation of the employee discharged by the
employer. Su ch payment is taxable in case of all employees
under Section 17(2)(iv)
e. Educational facilities:
If the employer is a school, college or educational institution,
then there will not be any perquisites taxable in the hands of any
employee.
If the employer is not a school, college or educational institution, but
is engaged in some other business or profession, the value of school
fees or colleges fees of the children of the employee paid by the
employer will be the taxable value of perquisites in respect if such
facility.
If the children of the employee are allowed free education in an
institute run by the employer where the employer is engaged in other munotes.in
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60 activities, then the value of the perquisites is reasonable cost of
education and deemed by the income tax officer in the hands of
specified employees.
f. Medical facilities
A sum of up to Rs 15000 paid by the employer to the employee by
way of reimbursement of medical expenses of the employee and his
family will be exempt perquisite in the hand of the employee. Any
payment made in excess of Rs15000 will be taxable.
If the treatment is made in a government approved hospital or
recognized hospital, or in government hospital, then no value will
be taken as the perquisite value in respect of such medical treatment
reimbursement.
If the medical treatment is done outside India, then up to the
amount approved by the RBI for such treatment, no perquisite value
will be added to the taxable income of the employee. If payments
made by the employer to the employee in this connection exceed the
amount approved by the RBI, then such excess will be treated as
taxable salary in the hands on of the emp loyee.
If the employer himself is a medical institution, then provision of
medical facilities will not attract any tax in the hands of the
employee.
In other words if an employer’s own institution provides
transport, education or medical facilities , there will be no taxable
perquisite value in the hands of the employee.
3.8 PROFITS IN LIEU OF SALARY – S 17(3)
U/s 17 (3) profit in lieu of salaries includes:
1. Com pensation for Termination of Employment or mod ification of
Terms & Conditions
The amount of any compensation due to or received by an assessee from
his employer or former employer at or in conne ction with the termination
of his employment or the modification of the terms and conditions
relating thereto;
2. Payment from Employer from PF or Other Fund
Any payment (other than any pension, gratuity, HRA, Retrenchment
compen sation, etc) due to or received by an assessee from an
employer or a former employer or from a provident or other fund , to
the extent to which it does not consist of contributions by the assessee or
interest on such contributions.
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61
3. Keyman Insurance Policy
Any sum received under a Keyman insurance policy including the sum
allocated by way of bonus on such policy.
4. Sums Received from Future or Former Employer
Any amount due to or received, whether in lump sum or otherwise,
by any assessee from any person (A) before his joining any employment
with that person or (B) after cessation of his employment with that
person.
5. Payment of Employee’s Obligation Employer
Any sum paid by the employer in respect of any obligation which, but
for such payment, would have been payable by the assessee;
6. Payments from Certain Funds :
Any sum payable by the e mployer, whether directly or through a
fund, other than a recognised provident fund or an approved
superannuation fund or a Deposit-linked Insurance Fund established u/s
3G of the Coal Mines Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,
1948 or u/s 6C of the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act, 1952 to effect an assurance on the life of the assessee or
to effect a contract for an ann uity;
7. Treatment of Annual Accretion to Provident Fund;
Provident Funds are established to provide for the retirement benefits of
the emp loyees. The Scheme of funds envisages annual contributions from
both the employer and the employee and the accumulation of interest
on the balances. The funds are of three types Viz.
I. Statuto ry Provident Fund set up or established and administered
by the Government.
II. Recognised Provident Fund set up by others but recognised by the
Commissioner of Income Tax
III. Unrecognised Provident Fund set up by others but not
recognised by the Commissioner of Income Tax due to non-
compliance with the guidelines laid down for recognition.
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62
The above position is summarised in the following table:
under Different Provident Fund Schemes(PF) Type of Fund Employer’s Contribution Interest on PF Payment on Retirement Statutory Exempt Exempt Exempt
Recognised Exempt upto 1 2% of Basic Salary(Excess taxable) Exempt up to
8.5% p.a. (Excess Exempt
subject to rules
Unrecognised Exempt Exempt Employers’
Contribution
& interest taxable –S
Other Points:
1. Employer’s Contribution to all the three funds is exempt at the time of
contribution.
2. If the P.F. is deducted from the salary of the employee, salary will
have to be grossed up in all the three cases.
3. Employees’ Contribution when received back on retirement is exempt
in all the three above mentioned cases.
4. Interest on Employees’ Contribution from Unrecognised Provident
Fund will be treated as Income from Other Sources.
8. Transferred Balance: - S. 7
When an Unrecognised Provident Fund is subsequently recognised, the
balances standing in the Unrecognised Provident Fund are transferred to
the Recognised Provident Fund. These balances are called transferred
balances and are deem ed to be the income of that year as per section 7.
Such amount consisting of employees’ contribution in excess of 12%
of Basic Salary and interest credited in excess of 8.5% per annum
are taxed as the salary under section 17(1).
3.9 DEDUCTIONS FROM SALARIES: - S. 16
Aggregate of taxable amount in respect of salary, various allowances and
perquisites is called the Gross Salary. From the Gross Salary so arrived,
Deductions are allowed u/s 16. Other than that, no further deductions
are allowed under this head. The following are the deduction
available to the employee U/s 16:-
Standard deduction means a flat deduction to individuals earning salary or
pension income. It was introduced in the Budget 2018 in lieu of exemption munotes.in
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63 of transport allowan ce and reimbursement of miscellaneous medical
expenses. For AY 2021 -22, the limit of the standard deduction is Rs
50,000 .
9.1. Entertainment Allowance: -S.16 (2)
Deduction in respect of entertainment allowance is allowed only to the
Government Servants. Employees working in private institutions are not
entitled to th is dedu ction. Amount of deduction shall not exceed the
actual amount or 20% of basic salary or Rs. 5000 , whichever is less.
Amount actually spent on entertainment is not relevant.
9.2 Profession Tax:
The Profession Tax, paid by an employee in a given previous year,
will be deducted from the gross salary in order to get the taxable amount
of salary.Profession Tax is levied by state government on employment.
3.10 ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustration-16:
R, a Chartered Accountant was appo inted as Finance Manager with
ABC Bank on 1/4/2018 in the Salary grade of Rs. 12000 – 500 –
20000 – 1000 – 30000.
He was entitled to Leave Travel Concession for proceeding on leave
of Rs. 4000. His actual expenditure on this account amounted to Rs. 5000.
As the bank is situated at a place where home food is available, R was
offered Tiffin Allowance Rs. 6000, His actual lunch expenses amount ed
to Rs.10,000
Reimbursement of medical expenses for treatment of R and his family
in private clinic was Rs. 50,000
The Bank has provided free unfurnished flat at Mumbai (rent paid by
Bank: Rs.80,000). However the perquisite value of that Flat was Rs.
30000.
The employer provided two watchmen (salary Rs .2000 per month each).
Free use of Santro car for official use, car can be used for journey
between office and residence.
Free refreshments provided at place of work (Rs. 100 per day for 200
days).
Compute Salary Income for the assessment 2021 -22
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64 Solution:
Comp utation of Salary Income R for AY 2014-15
Particulars Rs.
Basic salary (12000+500+500)*12 1,56,000
Leave Travel Concession (Exempt) NIL
Tiffin Allowance ( Taxable) 6,000
Medical Expenses Reimbursed (50000 – 15000) 35,000
Rent Free Accommodation (Given) 30,000
Watchmen’s Salary (2000 * 2 *12) 48,000
Santro Car only for Office use NIL
Free Refreshments at workplace NIL
Gross Salary 2750 00
Less: Deduction U/s 16
Standard Deduction (50,000)
Taxable Salary 2,25,000
Illustration -17:
X is in negotiation with two employer A &B, who have made the
following offers to X. Help him in making an appropriate choice.
Particulars Rupees A B Basic Salary 500000 50,000HRA – Actual Rent Rs. 200000 25,0000 0 Free House –fair rental value 50000 0 250000 Transport Allowance 100000 0 Free Use of Car – Amount spent 100000 Education Allowance for one child 5,0000 0 Free Education for 1 child. Amount spent 0 50000 Gardener Allowance 60000 0 Gardener’s salary paid by employer 60000 Salary 960000 960000
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65 Solution
Taxable salary from employer A
Basic Salary 500000
HRA (Actual) Less : Exempt
(HRA or 50 per cent of salary or Rent
paid less 10 per cent of salary 200000-
10% of
5000 00) 250000
150000
100000
Education Allowance
Less : Exempt (100*12) 50000
1200
48800 Gardener Allowance 60000
Transport Allowance 100000
Gross Salary 799200
Less: Deduction U/s 16
Standard Deduction (50,000) Taxable Salary 749200
Taxable salary from employer B
Basic Salary 500000
Free House Value 50000
Free Education for 1 child 50000
Gardener's Salary(120 * 12) 1440
Free Car 100000
Gross Salary 851440
Less: Deduction U/s 16
Standard Deduction (50,000)
Taxable Salary 801440
Since Taxable salary will be less with B, He should be preferred to.
Illustration- 18:
XY Ltd offers a job with following options to M, who is neither a
director nor he has substantial interest in the company:
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66 PARTICULARS I II Rs. Rs. Basic Salary 1,70,000 1,70,000 Bonus 6,000 6,000 Education Allowance for 2 children 10,200 -- Education facility for 2 children in an Institution maintained by the employer -- 10,200 Sweeper Allowance 10,000 -- Free Sweeper -- 10,000 Entertainment Allowance 6,000 -- Club Facility -- 6,000 Conveyance Allowance for personal use 12,000 -- Free Car Facility for Personal Use -- 12,000 Medical Allowance 18,000 -- Medical Facility for M and Family Members in own hospital -- 18,000 Free gas, electricity and water supply -- 4,500 Fair Rent Rent-free unfurnished house: 24,000 24,000
Which option M must choose on the assumption that he and XY LTD
will both l contribute 10% of salary towards unrecognised PF?
SOLUTION:
PARTICULARS I II Rs. Rs. Income from Salary Basic Salary 1,70,000 1,70,000 Bonus 6,000 6,000 Education Allowance (10,200 - 2,400) 7,800 Exempt Education Facility -- Exempt Sweeper Allowance/Facility 10,000 -- Entertainment Allowance/Club Facility 6,000 6,000 Conveyance Allowance/Car Facility 12,000 Exempt Medical Allowance/facility 18,000 -- Allowance for gas/electricity/water/free facility 4,500 -- Rent free unfurnished house 13,430 7,600 Gross Salary 2,47,730 1,89,600 Less: Deduction U/s 16 Standard Deduction (50,000) (50,000) Taxable Salary 1,97,730 1,39,600 Since taxable income is lower in option II, it should be preferred.
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67 3.11 SELF ASSESS MENT QUES TIONS
1. What is Salary?
2. Discuss the difference profits in lieu of salary and perquisites.
3. Discuss various deductions available under the head salary.
4. Discuss the tax treatment of the perquisites for different emp loyees.
5. Non- specified employees pay less tax than specified
employees”. Comment.
6. Rajesh is an emp loyee of ABC Ltd. Since 1997, he is receiving
entertainment allowance of Rs. 500 p.m. He submits following further
information as on 31.03.14 with the request to compute his taxable
salary.
a) Net Salary of Rs. 4,000 p.m. (including entertainment allowance of
Rs. 500 p.m. but after deducting income tax Rs. 500, Provident Fund
Rs. 500 and Profession tax Rs. 70)
b) He is provided car for his exclusive use during office hours for
office work. The petrol and other maintena nce expenses come to Rs.
12,000 p.a.
c) Received Leave Travel Concession for himself and his family for
proceeding on leave to hometown of Rs. 5,000 as prescribed, while
actual amount spent by him was Rs. 3,500.
d) During the year, he received free services of a cook. (Cost to the
employer Rs. 4,400)
e) Received Rs. 8,000 on encashment of leave to his credit.
7. Rita was an employee of R India Ltd since 1968 covered by the
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, retired on 31 January 2014 after 35
years and 7 months’ service. At the time of retirement her employer
paid gratuity of Rs. 65,000 (exempt u/s 10(10) Rs. 51,000). She
received Rs. 50,000 being the accumulated balance of recognised
Provident Fund. The due date of salary etc was 1st day of the next
month and were paid on due date. He was entitled to a monthly
pension of Rs. 400 with effect from 1st day of February 2014, which
becomes due on the last day of the month.
8. Compute the taxable income of Mr. Hitesh for the AY 2021 -22 on
the basis of the following further information:
(A) Basic Salary Rs. 2,5000 p.m.
(B) House Rent Allowance Rs. 4000 p.m. Taxable value is 50% of the
amount received. munotes.in
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68
(C) Project Allowance paid during the year Rs. 12,000.
(D) Bonus paid during the year Rs. 3,6000.
(E) In retirement, on encashment of earned leave at his credit of 15
months he received Rs. 37,500. (Exempt u/s 10(10AA) Rs.
24,600)
9. Suhas submits the following information pertaining to the year
31.3. 2021 and asks you to compute his income from salaries for
the AY 2021-22.
a) Basic Salary Rs. 5,000 p.m.
b) Dearness Allowance Rs. 3,000 p.m.
c) Bonus @ 20% on salary plus Dearness Allowance
d) Employee contribution 12.5% of basic salary+DA to RPF .
Employer also contributes an equal sum.
e) Interest on balance credited to his RPF @ 14% p.a. Rs.17,500
f) House Rent Allowance Rs. 10,000 p.a.
g) Profession tax paid by employee Rs. 840.
He retired from services on 31.3.2021 opting or 60% commutation of
pension and received Rs. 2, 40,000 as the only terminal benefit.
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69 4
INCOME FROM HOUSE PROPERTY
(SECTIONS 22 - 27)
Unit Structure
4.1 Introduction and objectives
4.2 Basis of Charge
4.3 Deemed owner
4.4 Income Exempt U/s 10
4.5 Computation of income from house property
[GAV, NAV SOP, Deemed let out partly let -out and partly self -occupi ed
Co-ownership, deductions
4.6 Miscellaneous - Arrears , Losses , TDs and no other deductions
4.7 Illustrations
4.8 Self - Examination Introduction and Objectives
4.1 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES:
Income from house Property” is significantly different from the oth er
heads of income unlike the other heads as it covers not only the actual
income but also the notional income.
This lesson explains the taxing provisions related to “Income from house
property” contained in Sections 22 to 27 namely -.
S 22 defines the sc ope of Income from House Property;
S .3 gives the mode of computation of income,
S. 24 specifies the amounts deductible therefrom.
S. 25 deals with the amounts not deductible.
S.26 deals with the income of co -owners of a property and
S. 27 gives the ca ses where a person not being an owner of the
property will be taxed as the deemed owner of such property.
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70 4.2 BASIS OF CHARGE: S. 22:
2.2.1 Annual Value of property consisting of any building or lands
appurtenant thereto of which the assessee is the owner , shal l be
chargeable under the head Income from House Property. This is however
not applicable to property occupied for the purpose of assessees own
business or profession -Sec 22.
2.2.2 In order to charge any income from any property under this head,
following condit ions are satisfied namely –
a) The property must consist of buildings or land appurtenant or
adjacent thereto. other properties are not covered under this head
‘Building ‘means any habitable four -wall structure covered by a
roof. It is immaterial whether the building is residential or commercial
such as warehouse, office or factory godown, wedding hall, auditorium,
business centre, etc .
‘Land appurtenant’ means the land connected or adjacent to the
building e.g. open space, approach roads, courtyard, compoun ds,
courtyards, backyards, playgrounds, parking spaces, etc
Income from any other property e.g. rental Income from a vacant plot of
land is not chargeable to tax under this head unless it is appurtenant to a
building.
b) The assessee must own the property. It is only the owner or deemed
owner of house property who is liable to tax on income under this head.
Following points are important in this regard :
(a) Owner may be any person i.e. an individual, HUF, firm, company,
cooperative society or association of per sons etc.
(b) The person must be the owner in the previous year. Subsequent
change in the ownership of the property is immaterial.
(c) Similarly, Sub -letting income of a tenant, who sub -lets the property to
another tenant, is also not covered under this head si nce the tenant is
not the owner of the property. Such income will be treated either as
business income or as income from Other Sources.
c) The property may be either let -out or used for own residence but it must
not be used for the purpose of assessee’s own b usiness or profession.
4.3 DEEMED OWNER - SEC. 27:
Section 27, provides exceptions to the principle that ownership as the
basis of taxing income from house property, when a person will be
deemed to the owner of a property although he may not be the legal o wner
thereof and income from such property will be treated as income from
house property. These exceptions are as follows: munotes.in
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Income from House Property
71 i. An individual, who transfers any property for inadequate consideration
or who gifts that property to his spouse or to a minor child other than
a married daughter will be treated as deemed owner of that property.
In such cases, though legally the owner of the property is the spouse or
the minor child, the income from that property will be treated as
income of this person who has transfer red such property.
ii. The holder of an impartible estate will be treated as the owner of that
entire property for example where an HUF jointly holds property on
behalf of all its members, then joint HUF will be treated as the owner
though legally the propert y may be in the name of an individual
member of family.
iii. A member of co -operative society, company or other association of
persons to whom a building has been allotted under a house building
scheme of society will also be treated as deemed owner of that
property.
iv. A purchaser who has received possession of a property in part
performance of a contract within the meaning of section 53A of the
transfer of property Act will be treated as deemed owner of that
property despite the fact that the agreement for buyin g of property has
not been registered with the appropriate authority.
v. A person who has acquired right by way of long -term lease of property
for period of more than 12 years will be treated as the owner of that
property and income from that property. This provision is not
applicable on any right by way of a lease renewable from month to
month or for a period not exceeding one year.
4.4 HOUSE PROPERTY INCOME EXEMPT U/S 10
Income from house property is exempt from tax u/s 10. If it is earned by
certain inst itutions / organisations/ persons etc or in certain circumstances
such as -
(a) Income of One Palace of an ex - Ruler - S. 10(19A)
(b) A local authority S. -10(20)
(c) A scientific research association -S. 10(20),
(d) An Institution for development of Khadi & Village Indu stries -S.
10(23BB)
(e) Khadi & Village Industries Board -S. 10(23BB)
(f) A body for administration of charitable & religious trusts &
endowments -S. 10(23BBA)
(g) Approved funds, educational institutions & hospitals - S. 10(23C),
(h) A trade union or association of trad e union - S. 10(24) munotes.in
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72 (i) Resident of Ladakh district -S. 10(26A)
(j) Statutory corporations/ other institution or association finance by the
government for promoting the interests of the members of the
scheduled caste and scheduled tribes - S. 10(26B)
(k) Co-operative so ciety for promoting the interests of the members of
the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes - S. 10(27)
(l) A political party -S. 13
(m) A farmhouse used for agricultural purposes. -S. 10(1)
(n) property held for charitable purposes -S. 11
(o) Property used for own busine ss or profession such as letting out
property to paying guest, employees’ quarters, residence of partners
or directors are some of the business uses. –S 22.
(p) If such property yields any income, such income will be treated as
business income and not house property income.
(q) One Self Occupied Property of an individual or a HUF assessee and
not for letting out - S. 23(1). This benefit cannot be availed by non -
living entities like firms, companies, etc.
5. COMPUTATION HOUSE PROPERTY INCOME:
Income from house pr operty is computed based on its annual value
determined u/s 23 and after allowing deductions u/s 24 therefrom. These
provisions are explained below:
5.1 Annual Value -Sec 23
Since, there is no definitive meaning of the term annual value defined in
Sec 2(22) “as the annual value determined under Sec. 23, meaning of
annual value has to be seen in common parlance.
‘Annual value’ may be defined as the inherent capacity of a property to
earn income or the amount for which the property may reasonably be
expected to be let out from year to year. It is not the actual rent but the
capacity to fetch rent that is important. It implies that a property need not
necessarily be let out.
The annual value of a property will, therefore, depend upon the use of the
property- self occupied, let out or partly vacant etc. The provisions of
section 23 for determination of annual value are given below:
5.2 Determination of Gross Annual Value [GAV]
Annual value of a house property is higher of the Actual Rent or its
Reasonabl e Lettable Value [RLV] -S23 (1) (a) munotes.in
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Income from House Property
73 Actual Rent means the rent received or receivable in respect of the
property actually let out by the owner.
Reasonable Lettable Value [RLV] is the expected rent which the property
might reasonably be expected to yield fro m year to year. This value may
be computed whether the property is let out or not. RLV is estimated
based on the following factors:
(a) Fair rent or the rent of similar properties in the same locality. The
fair rent may be different in different circumstances or different
contractual obligations.
(b) Municipal Ratable Value or the value of the property fixed by the
local authorities for the purposes of assessment of local taxes
payable. Often Municipal Ratable Value is taken based on the
market rent receivable on t he property and is therefore considered as
a very reliable yardstick to determine the reasonable letting value of
the property.
(c) Standard Rent or the rent fixed under the Rent Control Act to control
or limit the prevailing rents in a locality. It only means that the
landlord cannot charge more rent than the limit fixed under the law.
However, the landlord is free to charge lower rent than the rent fixed
under the law. Thus actual rent can be more or less than the fair rent
but can never exceed the standard r ent.
The following diagram depicts the legal position: Gross Annual Value -GAV
Higher of the Two
Reasonable Lettable Value -RLV
Higher of the Two Fair Rent Municipal Value Actual Rent
Cannot exceed Standard Rent
Illustr ation -1:
Find out the Gross Annual Value from the details given in respect of
premises:
Actual Rent: Rs 10,000 per month.
Rent of similar premises in the area Rs. 15,000 per month.
Municipal ratable value Rs. 8000 per month
Standard Rent fixed under the Rent Control Act. Rs. 12,000 p.m. munotes.in
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74 Solution:
Given Actual Rent -Rs 10,000 per month 1,20,000 (a) Fair rent - Rs. 15,000 per month 1,80,000
(b) Municipal ratable value Rs. 8000 P.M. 96,000
Higher of the (a) and (b) – Fair Rent 1,80,000
Standard Rent Rs 12, 000 per month 1,44,000
Fair rent cannot exceed the Standard Rent ,Hence Reasonable
Lettable Value RLV restricted to 1,44000
Gross Annual Value Higher of the Two 1,44,000
Illustration -2:
What will be the GAV if the Standard rent Rs. 18,000 p .m.?
Solution:
Given Actual Rent -Rs 10,000 per month 1,20,000 (a) Fair rent - Rs. 15,000 per month 1,80,000
(b) Municipal ratable value Rs. 8000 P.M. 96,000
Higher of the (a) and (b) – Fair Rent 1,80,000
Standard Rent Rs 18,000 per month 2,16,000
Reasonable Lettable Value RLV 1,80000
Gross Annual Value Higher of the Two 1,80,000 Standard rent being only a limiting factor is ignored .
Illustration -3:
What will be the annual value of the property if the Actual rent in the
above case is Rs. 20,000 per month; fair rent, ratable value and standard
rent remain at the same level of Rs. 15,000, 8000 and 12,000 per month
respectively.
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Income from House Property
75 Solution:
Given Actual Rent -Rs 20,000 per month 2,40,000 (a) Fair rent - Rs. 15,000 per month 1,80,000
(b) Munic ipal ratable value Rs. 8000 P.M. 96,000
Higher of the (a) and (b) – Fair Rent 1,80,000
Standard Rent Rs 12,000 per month 1,44,000
Fair rent cannot exceed the Standard Rent ,Hence Reasonable
Lettable Value RLV restricted to 1,44000
Gross Annual V alue Higher of the Two 2,40,000 Comparison of Reasonable letting value and Rent received/
Receivable - Sec .23(1(b) :
Gross annual value is the higher of the two values namely the rent
received or receivable as compared with the reasonable letting valu e.
Such comparison may throw two possibilities viz: -
(a) Actual rent received/ receivable is more than the reasonable letting
value. In such a case, actual rent will be the Gross Annual Value u/s 23(1)
(b). OR
(b) Conversely, the reasonable letting value is more than the actual rent
received/ receivable. In this case if the reason for deficiency or shortfall
between the actual rent the reasonable letting value is :
I. Vacancy only and no other reason, such lower rent will be taken as
the gross annual value u/s 23(1)(c) or and
II. Any other reason, reasonable letting value will be the gross annual
value.
The above position will be clear from the following diagram: Situation Gross Annual Value Actual Rent > RLV Actual Rent Reason Vacancy Actual Rent = GAV RLV > Actual Rent Other reason RLV =GAV
5.3 Other Important points :-
i. Actual rent is relevant only if the property is let out. A property, which
remains vacant or is nor let out at all or a self - occupied property
cannot have any ac tual rent. In such a case, reasonable letting value
alone will be the guiding factor. munotes.in
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76 ii. The amount of Rent actually received/ receivable during the previous
year will be arrived after deducting rent for the period for which the
property was vacant and unrea lised rent or bad debts,
iii. In case of composite rent, expenses on providing amenities to the
tenant such as water will be deducted to find out the actual rent.
iv. For determining the Annual value, the actual rent shall not include the
rent, which cannot be real ised by the owner. However, the following
conditions need to be satisfied for this:
(a) The tenancy is bona fide;
(b) The defaulting tenant has vacated, or steps have been taken to compel
him to vacate the property.
(c) The defaulting tenant is not in occupation of an y other property of the
assessee;
(d) The assessee has taken all reasonable steps to institute legal
proceedings for the recovery of the unpaid rent or satisfied the
Assessing Officer that legal proceedings would be useless.
Illustration -4
Find out the annual value of a house let out for @ Rs 2,000 per month.
Reasonable Lettable Value is Rs 20,000.
Solution:
Annual value will be the actual rent of Rs 24,000 because it is higher than
the reasonable lettable value of Rs 20,000
Illustration -5
What will be the GAV if the reasonable lettable value is Rs 30,000 but the
actual rent is Rs 2,000 per month?
Solution:
Annual value on this case be the reasonable lettable value i.e. Rs. 30,000
being higher than the actual rent of Rs. 24,000,.
Illustration -6
A house was le t out on a monthly rent of Rs. 20,000 for 8 months only.
Remaining 4 months it remained vacant. Reasonable lettable value of the
house is Rs. 2,40,000. What would be its annual value?
Solution:
Actual rent is Rs. 1,60,000 for 8 months . However, RLV is Rs . 2,40,000
for the full year. There is a shortfall of Rs. 80,000 compared to the
reasonable lettable value. munotes.in
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Income from House Property
77 Actual rent for full year will Rs. 2,40,000 , if there is no vacancy . Since
the shortfall of Rs .80,000 is solely on account of vacancy, the gros s
annual value will be Rs. 1,60,000 being the actual rent.
5.4 Computation of Net Annual Value:
Sec 23 classifies the house properties into different categories as discussed
below:
(A) Self-occupied Business Properties:
Income from house property used for own business or profession is
exempt from tax. If any rent or other income is generated from such
property, the same should be treated as business income. Similarly,
municipal taxes, repairs, insurance premium, and other expenses incurred
on such property etc . will be admissible as business expenses.
(B) Self-occupied Residential Properties (SOP):
I. SOP – Annual Value to be taken as NIL
U/s 23(2)(a) value of one residential house part thereof which is occupied
by the owner himself for his own residence is taken as nil subject to two
conditions namely : -:
i. The property or part thereof is not let -out actually for any part of the
previous year and
ii. No other benefit has been derived from such property.
Some points are important in respect of SOPs.
1. This exemption is av ailable only to individuals and HUFs . Other non -
living persons cannot avail this exemption.
2. Exemption is restricted to only one self - occupied property ,
3. If the assessee owns more than one self-occupied properties, the
assessee, at his option, may choose any one property as self -occupied
by him and the remaining properties will be deemed or assumed to
have been let -out.
4. Gross Annual Value of such properties deemed to have been let -out,
will be determined based on their notional rental value as if the
properties were let -out even if no rent has actually been received by
the assessee. However, deductions u/s 23 & 24 will be allowed in the
normal manner on such property.
5. If an assessee owns only one property, and cannot occupy the same
because he is engage d in employment or is carrying on a business or
profession elsewhere, these provisions will apply mutatis mutandis -
Sec. 24(2).
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78 III. No Deductions allowed from SOP except Interest :
Once the annual value of a SOP has been taken as nil, no further deduction
will be allowed U/s 23 in respect of municipal taxes or U/s 24 except in
respect of interest paid or payable on borrowed funds for purchase,
construction, repair, renewal or reconstruction of house property as per the
following rules
1. Interest paid or payable on loan taken prior to 01/04/1999 will be
allowed to the extent of Rs. 30,000.
2. Interest paid or payable on loan taken after 01/04/1999 for acquisition/
construction of house property, will be allowed to the extent of Rs.
1,50,000 .
3. But if lo an is taken after 01/04/1999 or repairs or renovation of the
house property, deduction in respect of interest paid or payable will be
restricted to Rs. 30,000.
4. Interest is allowed on accrual basis. Actual payment during the previous
is not necessary.
5. Interest paid or payable on money borrowed to acquire or construct the
house property, for the period prior to the previous year in which the
property had been acquired or constructed, shall be deductible in five
equal annual instalments starting from the previous year in which the
house has been acquired or constructed.
6 A fresh loan may be raised exclusively to repay the original loan taken
for purchase/ construction etc, of the property. In such a case also, the
interest on the fresh loan will be a llowable.
7. Interest payable on interest will not be allowed.
8. Brokerage or commission paid to arrange a loan for house construction
will not be allowed.
9 Any loss arising under the head ‘income from house property’ may be
set-off against the other he ads in the same assessment year. INTERST ALLOWABLE ON LOANS TAKEN Before
01/04/1999 AFTER 01/04/199 For Acquisition or
Construction For Renovation or
Repairs Rs 30,000 Rs 2,00,000 Rs 30,000
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Income from House Property
79 Illustrations -7:
Find out the interest deductible U /s 24 for the assessment year if A
borrows Rs. 25,00,000 @ 10% p. a. on 1/4/2009 to construct a
Bungalow for own residence. ,
Solution:
Rs 2,00,000 will be allowed out of interest payable Rs. 2,50,000.
Illustration -8:
Determine the amount of inter est allowable in the above illustration if the
money was borrowed in 1998.
Solution
The deduction would be restricted to Rs. 30.000.
Illustration -9:
What would be amount of deductible interest if the loan was used for
repairs of the bungalow?
Solution
The deduction would be restricted to Rs. 30.000.
Illustration -10:
If the construction of the Bungalow was completed in February 2012,
what would be the amount of deductible interest?
Solution:
Loan was taken on 01/04/2009 (F.Y. 2009 -10) and building was
comp leted in February 2012 (F.Y. 2011 -12).
Interest for the Pre –construction period i.e. F.Y. 2009 -10 and 2010 -11,
works out to Rs 5,00,000. During this period there was no house property,
hence, there is neither any income from house property chargeable to tax
nor any interest deductible therefrom.
Total interest payable for these two Rs 5,00,000 will be spread over in
FIVE equal instalments of Rs 1,00,000 each and will be allowed from
assessment year 2012 -13 being the year in which the construction was
completed for five assessment years upto and including Assessment
2016 -17 with in the overall limit of Rs. 1,50,000
(C) Let-out Properties :
Following principles will be applicable for determination of annual value
of properties let out including SOP deemed t o be let out.
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80 1. Net Annual Value
Let-out properties are charged to tax at the net annual value (NAV),
arrived at by deducting Municipal taxes paid by the owner from GAV -
(Proviso to S. 23(1). Municipal taxes paid or borne by the tenant are not
deductible. Municipal taxes are taken on cash basis and not accrual basis. NAV= [GAV] - [Municipal Taxes paid by the Owner ]
2. Deductions under section 24:
(a) Standard deduction
From the net annual value a standard deductions in respect of Repairs
and Coll ection Charges is allowed to the extent of 30% of the net annual
value irrespective of whether the assessee has actually incurred the
expenses or not. However, if the repairs are borne by the tenant, this
deduction will not be allowed in the hands of the o wner of the property.
(b) Arrears of Rent
A deduction of 30% is allowed for repairs and collection charges from the
arrears of rent received in respect of a property let out, which were earlier
not charged to tax and the same will be taxable in the year o f receipt - Sec
25 B
(c) Interest on funds borrowed
Interest on loan taken for acquisition, construction, renewal, repairs or
reconstruction is allowed on let -out properties without any limit of Rs
30,000/ 1,50,000 as in case of SOP. The interest on loa ns, is allowable on
accrual basis. Similarly, Pre -construction interest from the date of the
loan to the end of the previous year before the previous year in which the
house was acquired is amortized 1/5th per year for 5 years as in case of
SOP from the financial year in which the construction was completed. .
Illustration -11
A took a loan on 01/10/ 2008 of Rs 10,00,000 @ 10% interest p.a for the
construction of his house. The house was finally constructed on January 1,
2012. Calculate the pre -construct ion period interest and also mention the
AYs in which the deduction for such interest may be allowed.
Solution
Loan was taken on 01/10/2008 and the house is constructed in the
financial year 2011 -12 (Assessment year 2012 -13 )
Pre-construction period = 01/ 10/2008 to 31/03/2011 = 2.5 years.
Interest for preconstruction period : Rs 10,00,000 X 10% X 2.5 = Rs
2,50,000 , which will be amortized in five equal instalments of Rs 50,000
each from Assessment Year 2012 -13, in which the house was constructed,
onwards till 2016 -17. munotes.in
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81 (D) Property let -out and self -occupied for part of the year
If a property is let -out for whole or any part of the year and self -occupied
for the remaining part of the year, it shall be treated as let -out property and
computation will be made acc ordingly by comparing actual rent with the
fair rent for the whole property u/s 23(1). It will not be treated as SOP as
Sec 23(3) makes it clear the SOP shall not be let -out for any part of the
year nor should any benefit be derived from it.
(E) Property partl y let-out and partly self -occupied:
If a part of the property – say one or two floors or few rooms have been let
out and another part of the property is self - occupied, then for each portion
the calculation will be made separately. Relevant expenses like p roperty
taxes and interest will be allocated suitably for each portion and
deductions will be allowed separately for each portion.
NOTE the difference between properties let out /SOP for split period and
with split portion used for letting out/SOP.
(F) Co-ownership – Section 26:
A property owned by more than one owners having definite and
ascertainable share therein, will not be assessed as an association of
persons but share of each owner shall be included in his individual
income. Supposing the property is occupied by the co -owners themselves,
share of each owner will be treated as nil. Each of the co -owners would be
entitled to the deduction in respect of interest subject to the limit of Rs
30,000 or Rs 1,50,000, as the case may be.
4.6 MISCELLANEOUS:
Reco very of past arrears of AY 2002 -03 onward -S 25B
Arrears of rent pertaining to period from assessment year 2002 -03 or
thereafter will be taxable in the year of recovery and 30% deduction is
allowable in that year S. 25B
Recovery of arrears for pre AY 200 2-03 –S 25A/25AA
Recovery of unrealisd rent earlier allowed as deduction u/s 24 upto
Assessment Year 2002 -03 and thereafter from the annual value, are
taxable in the year of recovery but 30% deduction will not be allowed (S.
25-A/ 25 -AA)
TDS
Interest pai d to a non -resident outside India without deduction of tax at
source will not be allowed as deduction.
Set off and carry forward of losses :
Any loss arising under the head “Income from House Property” in respect
of interest only can be set off against inc ome arising from other heads and munotes.in
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82 the remaining loss will be allowed to be set off and carried forward for a
period of 8 assessment years
No other Deductions allowed;
No deduction would be available in respect of charges like electricity, land
revenue, gr ound rent, insurance, etc. even though they may be actual
outgoings since the standard deduction of 30% is supposed to take care of
all expenses.
4.7 SOLVED ILLUSTRATIONS:
Illustration -12
Find out the Gross Annual Value in the following cases: -
Property . . Particula rs . I . II . III . IV . V .Municipal Value 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 .Rent Received 5200 5200 5700 5700 6000 .Fair Rental Value 5600 5600 5600 5800 6100 .Standard Rent under .[Rent Control Act] NA 5500 5500 5500 7300
Solution: . I II III IV V .Municipal Value 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 .Rent Received 5200 5200 5700 5700 6000 .Fair Rental Value 5600 5600 5600 5800 6100 .Standard Rent under Rent Act NA 5500 5500 5500 7300 . Gross Annual Value . 5600 . 5500 . 5700 . 5700* . 6100*
House I - Fair Rent being highest
House II - fair rent Rs 5,600 limited to Standard Rent Rs 5,500
House III : Actual Rent being higher Rs 5700
House IV Actual rent Rs 5,700 being higher than RLV i.e. Fair Rent
Rs 5800 limited to Standard rent RS 5,500
House V – Fair rent being t he highest Rs 6100. Standard rent is only a
limiting factor, hence ignored. munotes.in
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Income from House Property
83 Illustration -13
A owns two houses, I & II. House I is let -out throughout the previous
year. House II is self -occupied for nine months and let -out for three
months on a monthly r ent of Rs 5,000. Determine Taxable income, given
the following details: - . . House I . House II . Municipal Value 40,000 50,000 . Fair Rent 50,000 48,000 . Rent Received 48,000 15,000 . Municipal Taxes paid 4,000 5,000 . Insurance Premium (not yet paid) 2,000 2,500 . Ground Rent 1,000 1,500 . Maintenance Charges 3,000 3,500 . Electricity Bill 5,000 6,000
Solution: . . House I . House II . Gross Rental Value (fair rent for house I and municipal value for house –II 50,000 50,000 . Less : Municipal Taxes paid 4,000 5,000 . Net Rental Value 46,000 45,000 . Less : Deduction u/s 24 . . . Repairs & Collection Charges 30% 13,800 13,500 . Taxable Income 32,200 31,500
4.8 SELF EXAMINATION QUESTIONS :
1. What is annual value? How is it determined?
2. Discuss b riefly the various expenses and allowances that are
deductible under the head “Income from House Property”
3. Mention the amounts which are not deductible from Income from
House Property
4. Write a short note on property owned by co -owners
5. Explain briefly (a) Ow ner of a house property (b) A member of a co -
operative society (c) Annual Value
6. What do you mean by “Self -Occupied house property”? How is the
annual value of such property determined? munotes.in
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Direct Tax
84 7. Explain briefly, house property “deemed to be let -out” and how the
income from such house property is determined?
8. Is interest paid on a housing loan out of India allowable as a
deduction?
9. Explain with reason if the Interest paid by the assessee on borrowed
capital in the construction of the property, till the date of letting out
an admissible expenditure.
10. Discuss the provisions of Income Tax Act regarding unoccupied
residential house?
11. Are there any exceptions to the rule that Ownership is the criterion for
assessment of Income from house property under Section 22” .
Enumerate and explain.
12. Discuss tax liability of arrears of rent.
13. Explain the provisions of the Income Tax Act with respect to the
computation of income from a self -occupied house property.
14. Explain the tax treatment of unrealized rent.
15. Lakdawala completed construct ion of a residential house on 1.4.1999.
Interest paid on loans borrowed for purpose of construction during the
2 year prior to completion was Rs 20,000/ - and for the current years
was Rs 10,000 The house was let out on a monthly rent of Rs. 4,000/ -
. Annual Municipal tax was Rs. 6,000/ -. Interest paid during the year
is Rs. 15,000/ -. Amount spent on repairs is Rs. 2,000/ -. Fire insurance
premium paid is Rs. 1,500/ - p.a. The property was vacant for 3
months. Annual letting value is Rs. 30,000/ -. Compute the i ncome
chargeable to tax under the head”Income from House Property” for
AY 4 -15 ( Ans. Rs. 8,500 )
16. Ram owned a house property at Chennai which was occupied by him
for the purpose of his residence. He was transferred to Mumbai in
June 2011 and therefore he l et-out the property with effect from July
1, 2011 on a monthly rent of Rs. 3,000/ -. The municipal tax payable
in respect of the property was Rs. 6,000/ - of which only 50% was
paid by him before 31.3.2012. Interest on money borrowed for the
construction of the property amounted to Rs. 20,000/ - Compute the
income from house property for the AY 2012 -13( Ans. Loss Rs 8250 )
17. Arvind commenced his construction of a residential house intended
exclusively for his residence on 1.11.2010. He raised a loan of Rs.
5,00, 000/- at 10% interest for the purpose of construction on
1.11.2006. Finding that there was an overrun in the cost of
construction he raised a further loan of Rs. 8, 00,000/ - at the same
rate of interest on 1.10.2012. What is the interest allowable under
Section 24 assuming that the construction was completed on
31.3.2008?( Ans. Loss Rs. 1,50,000pre - construction interest 1/5th)
18. From the following particulars of his property furnished by Shri S ,
Calulate income from house property who owns a resident ial house
actually let out for 10 months for total rent of Rs. 25,000. Fair rent of munotes.in
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Income from House Property
85 this house is Rs. 27,000 and municipal ratable valuation is Rs. 24,000.
Total outgo on account of this house included repairs of Rs. 9,000,
Municipal taxes of 18 months Rs. 9,000 and insurance premium of
Rs. 1,500. Interest on funds borrowed amounted to Rs. 1,75,000.
He also owns another residential house at Andheri, which is used for own
residence. Fair rent of this house is Rs. 80,000 and municipal ratable
valuation is Rs. 75,000. Total outgo on account of this house included
repairs of Rs. 6,000, Municipal taxes Rs. 18,000 and insurance premium
of Rs. 1,500. Construction of this house was complete in 2011 from the
funds borrowed from HDFC. During the current year, interest amounting
to Rs. 90,000 was paid for the current year and Rs. 60,000 for the last
year. A further interest of Rs. 65,000 was paid on loans taken for
renovation necessitated due to heave rains. The interest pertains equally to
this year as well as the last year. ( Ans –Let out Property - loss 1,63,000 , SOP
1,50,000 –interest paid )
19. State with reason whether the following incomes will be taxable as
income from house property.
a) R lets out his house to Y, who uses it as his office.
b) R uses his house as the go down to store his factory goods .
c) R rents out his property as residential quarters to the workers in his
factory at a nominal rent of Rs.500 p.m.
d) R enters into a written agreement to purchase a property from Y for
Rs. 5,00,000 . He has paid the consi deration and taken the possession
of the Property but the property is yet to be registered in the name
of R.
e) R owns a property, which is given on lease to Y for a period of 6
years, lease rent being Rs.10,000 per month. Y has a right to get the
lease renewed for a further period of 6 years.
f) R owns a property, which is given on lease to Y for a period of one
month, Y has a right to get the lease renewed for a period of one
month, in each subsequent month, and such renewal is possible with
mutual consent till 2020.
g) R owns a property, which is given on rent to Y. Y annually pays
Rs.1,50,000 as rent of the building as well as the charges for different
services (like lift, security, etc.) provided by R.
h) R owns an air -conditioned furnished le cture hall. It is let out, annual
rent being Rs 5,00,000, which includes rent of building as well as rent
of air conditioner and furniture. (Ans : a, d, e, f, and g]
munotes.in
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86 5
PROFITS AND GAINS OF BUSINESS OR
PROFESSION
(Sections 28 to 44)
Unit Structure
5.1 Introduction and objective
5.2 Concept of business
5.3 Scheme of computation
5.4 Deductions Expressly Allowed Under The Act
5.5 Specific Deductions -S.36
5.6 General deductions
5.7 Specific Disallowances
5.8 Typical Illustrations
5.9 Self Assessment Questions
5.1 INTRODUC TION AND OBJECTIVE
The lesson intends to explain one of the most important and complex
heads of income in simple terms beginning from the basic concepts of
business, profession, vocation, trade, commerce, manufacture. It also
covers the computation of taxable profit and gains of business and
profession, various gene ral and specific deductions including
depreciation allowable and items not allowed as deduction to the
extent contained in Sections 28 to 32, 35, 36, 37, 40, 40A, 43B
5.2 CONCEPT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSION :
2.1 Section 13, includes “profits and gains of business and profession” in
the list of heads of income, hence the “Business “and “Profession”
become the two significant terms.
2.2 Business is defined in Se c. 2 (13) in an inclusive definition that
“Business includes any trade, comme rce, manu facture or any adventure
or concern in the nature of trade, comme rce or manufacture and
profession is defined in section Sec. 2((36), which merely says that
“profession" includes vocation;
2.3. A collective reading of the three sections implies that
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Profits and Gains of Businessor
Profession
87 Business
“business” means a business as it is commo nly understood and it also
includes Trade, Commerce, Manufacture and any adventure in the
nature of trade, commerce or manufacture;
Trade, commerce and, business refer to normal commercial activities
of dealing or trading in goods or services for profit, producing new goods
or articles will constitute manufacture.
Profession
“Profession’ mea ns a profession in common parlance and also
includes a vocation.
Profession covers the skilled personalised services like doctors, architects,
lawyers, chartered accountants.
Vocation includes all the other services even priests, astrologers,
plumbers, mechanics, delivering discourse, performing pooja etc.
Adventure
The phrase “Adventure in the nature of trade, commerce or manufacture”
indicates that business or profession need not be organised, systematic or
regular. A single act may constitute a business or profession. For
instance, when a land was purchased developed and subdivided in smaller
plots for resale was held as an adventure in the nature of trade or
commerce or manufacture.
2.4 Following other points are noteworthy: