Praveenchand Ambalal vs Commissioner of Income Tax

This is an application u/s 256(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act").

The material facts giving rise to this application, briefly, are as follows : The petitioner is a partnership firm and assessed to Income Tax in the status of a registered firm. The assessment year in question is 1984-85 for which the relevant accounting year ended on November 4, 1983. While framing the assessment for the assessment year 1984-85, the Income Tax Officer passed an order dated February 1, 1985, adding certain amounts to the income returned by the assessee on the ground that the Central sales-tax collected by the petitioner had to be added back to his total income as the petitioner was only entitled to a deduction for the amount of sales tax actually paid by it, u/s 43B of the Income Tax Act. An appeal preferred by the assessee before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner was dismissed. The second appeal preferred by the assessee before the Tribunal was also dismissed. An application was, thereafter, submitted by the assessee u/s 256(1) of the Act for referring the question of law proposed by the assessee to this court for its opinion. The Tribunal rejected that application. Hence, the assessee has filed the present application.

Having heard learned counsel for the parties, we have come to the conclusion that the following question of law does arise out of the order passed by the Tribunal :

"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in law in holding that a sum of Rs. 2,854 collected from the customers on sales tax account at the end of.the accounting year and payable to Government immediately in the following accounting year was the income of the assessee ?"

The Tribunal is, therefore, directed to state the case and refer the aforesaid question of law to this court for its opinion. In the circumstances of the case, parties shall bear their own costs of this application.