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2014 (1) TMI 1726 - HC - Income TaxDetermination of the annual letting value - Commission of brokerage paid to the Property Dealers - whether not allowable as a deduction against the rental income and the assessee is to be taxed on the total rental income received without any such deduction? - Held that:- there is no express provision allowing any expenditure, brokerage or commission to be deducted in determining the annual letting value. A formula has been enshrined in Section 23 and a combined reading of clauses (a) and (b) would lead to an inference about the words used i.e. “actual rent received or receivable”. Thereafter deduction is allowed under Section 24 of the Act. The statute does not empower the assessing authority or the assessee to add anything to the provisions where the words used in the statute are plain, precise and unambiguous. Neither Section 23 nor Section 24, which are exhaustive, provides for the deduction of the commission paid to the broker or the agent while letting out the property. Furthermore, the learned counsel for the appellant was unable to demonstrate as to how any aid could be derived from Explanation 1(a) to Section 23(1) of the Act. Any expense by way of brokerage or commission paid by owner to the broker in such circumstances cannot be reduced to determine annual rent received or receivable by the landlord. Once this is so, equally the plea of amount of brokerage paid to have overriding title over rent cannot be accepted. We are, not inclined to concur with the analogy on which the assessee has set up its case, especially when a particular type of expenditure is not specifically provided to be deductible, deduction cannot be claimed from it. We find no ground to differ with the view taken by the Tribunal while upholding the order of Assessing Authority. We, therefore, answer the question against the assessee and in favour of the revenue.
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