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TMI Blog2010 (6) TMI 53X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 61. The appeals by the Revenue under Section 260A are admitted on the following substantial question of law: "Whether in the facts and circumstances of the case, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal was justified in holding that a dress designer is an artist entitled to a deduction under Section 80RR." 2. The assessee in his return of income for Assessment Years 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 claimed a deduction under Section 80RR. The deduction was claimed in respect of the design fees received by the assessee from persons not resident in India in convertible foreign exchange. The Assessing Officer rejected the claim of the assessee, holding that the assessee was not an author, or a playwright, artist, musician, actor or sportsman and hence ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ression cannot be confined to the fine arts. 5. Section 80RR provides as follows: "80RR. Where the gross total income of an individual resident in India, being an athlete, includes any income derived by him in the exercise of his profession from the Government of a foreign State or any person not resident in India, there shall be allowed, in computing the total income of the individual, a deduction from such income of an amount equal to- (i) sixty per cent of such income for an assessment year beginning on the 1st day of April, 2001; (ii) fortyfive per cent of such income for an assessment year beginning on the 1st day of April, 2002; (iii) thirty per cent of such income for an assessment year beginning on the 1st day of April, 2003; ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ginning on 1 April 2001, 1 April 2002, 1 April 2003 and 1 April 2004. No deduction is permissible with effect from the Assessment Year beginning on 1 April 2005. 7. The Finance Act of 1969 inserted Section 80RR with effect from 1 April 1970. The reasons for the introduction of the provision were explained in Circular 22 of 17 July 1969 thus: "This provision is designed to encourage successful authors, playwrights, artists, musicians and authors in our country to project their activities outside India with a view to contributing to greater understanding of our country and its culture abroad and also augmenting our foreign exchange resources. Some of the professional activities coming within the scope of this Section are: publication outsid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Board clarified that a script writer is a playwright and that a Director is an artist for the purpose of Section 80RR. However, a producer does not fall in any of the stated categories. 8. The categories of persons to whom Section 80RR allows a deduction are (i) authors; (ii) playwrights; (iii) artists; (iv) musicians; (v) actors; and (vi) sportsmen, including athletes. The expression "artists" is not defined by the statute. Hence, Parliament must have intended that an artist must be understood in its ordinary sense. No artificial constructs or deeming fictions. There is nothing in the statutory provision which would confine the meaning of the expression to a person engaged in the fine arts. The expression "artist" occurs after the expres ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Oxford English Dictionary an artist is defined as "one skilled in the 'liberal' or learned arts, one who is a master of the liberal arts or a skilled performer, a proficient, a connoisseur." In the Concise Oxford Dictionary the expression has been defined as follows: "(i) a painter (ii) a person who practices any of the arts (iii) an artiste (iv) a person who works with the dedication and attributes associated with an artist. (v) a devotee; a habitual practiser of a specified activity." 9. Simply stated, an artist is a person who engages in an activity which is an art. Artists, as we understand them, use skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects and experiences. Drawing, painting, sculpture, acting, dancing, writing ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bsequently, in the nineteenth and twentieth Centuries, there has been a tendency to abandon the term "art" in speaking of the purely utilitarian skills and to call them instead industries or applied sciences. The word "art" is now commonly understood to mean fine or aesthetic arts. The distinguishing characteristic is that art produces an experience of beauty or aesthetic satisfaction. In the moderately broad, technical sense, some, but not all, architecture, furniture and clothing can qualify as arts in spite of their useful purposes. The Division Bench held that it would not be possible to exclude an article, even if it is jewellery from the expression "works of art" if it is made or composed with manifest skill. 11. In Bharat Bhawan Tru ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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