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2016 (5) TMI 158

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..... constructed and erected for entities to put their advertisements and erected by the assessee firm for entities to put their advertisment. Thus, functional test also is not satisfied in the case of these hoarding structures and it cannot be treated as ‘Plant’ and are merely a ‘Building’ constructed and erected by the assessee firm which are given on commercial terms and conditions for ultimate user as a space by the entities who are desirous of putting their advertisement of products and / or services on these hoarding structures.Thus, in our considered view, these advertising hoarding structures which are permanent structures embedded in the building having foundation being erected and constructed by the assessee firm are in-fact ‘Building’ and the assessee firm is entitled for depreciation @ 10% Claim of interest by the assessee firm - Held that:- We have observed that the assessee firm has borrowed funds which were utilized for the purpose of its business. The assessee has made turnover of ₹ 54.23 lacs which was with respect to transactions with M/s Creations Publicity P. Ltd., assessee’s group concern and this is the only sale made by the assessee firm during the asses .....

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..... lant as amounts receivable are outstanding on account of sales conducted by the appellant and there is direct nexus between the expenditure and business purpose. 2.3 The Learned CIT (A) ought to have held that the estimated disallowance is adhoc, arbitrary and uncalled for. 3. Hoardings Expenses 3.1 On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the learned CIT (A) erred in confirming treatment of Hoarding Expenses incurred in respect of Hoardings amounting to ₹ 4,94,500/- being 50% of two bills of hoarding expenses amounting to ₹ 9,89,000/- as Capital Expenditure and adding ₹ 4,94,500/- to the appellants income after allowing depreciation at 10%. 3.2 The learned CIT (A) failed to appreciate that the said expenses were revenue in nature and as such allowable u/s. 31 and/or Sec. 37 of the I T Act and neither any new asset was created nor did it result in any enduring benefit as alleged. 3. The brief facts of the case are that the assessee firm is in the business of exhibiting cinema slides and short films in theatres and sole concessionaries and also in allied business related to outdoor advertising. 4. The assessee firm has received inco .....

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..... ever, rejected the contentions of the assessee firm and held that by no stretch of imagination can the hoarding site be considered as a plant which on itself can actively or passively result in generation of a service/product to constitute a plant. The A.O. relied upon the decision of Hon ble Apex Court in the case of CIT v. Anand Theatres [ 2000] 110 Taxman 338 (SC) ,wherein the Hon ble Apex Court held that such buildings cannot constitute a plant. The word plant specified in Section 43(3) of the Act nowhere mentions the word building and with effect from 1-4-2004 the provisions of the Act specifically excludes buildings, furniture and fixtures from the word plant. The AO observed that the definition of building should not be construed strictly by its literary meaning but has to be extended to any structure which has utility in the business of accommodating the activity. The A.O. in view of the above discussions held that hoarding site are in the nature of building on which depreciation is allowable at 10% and accordingly determined the allowable depreciation at ₹ 16,195/- as against ₹ 24,292/- claimed by the assessee firm, vide assessment orders dated 30.11.200 .....

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..... ider proper and appropriate direct the AO to allow the depreciation @ 15% to the appellant on such hoarding structure. Thus, this ground of appeal is allowed. 8. On the other hand, the ld. D.R. relied upon the order of the CIT(A) . 9. We have considered the rival submissions and also perused the material on record. It is observed that the assessee firm has claimed depreciation @ 15% on hoarding structure s under the category of plant and machinery while the Revenue authorities have allowed depreciation @ 10% being part of the building. We have observed that the assessee firm is in the business of exhibiting cinema slides and short films in theatres and sole concessionaries and also in allied business related to outdoor advertising. The assessee firm has received income from its hoarding sites given to its sister concern M/s Creation Publicity Private Limited and the income thereon has been shown at ₹ 54.23 lakhs. The said hoarding structures are owned and possessed by the assessee firm and without the said hoardings , the assessee firm would not have generated any revenue. We have observed that depreciation u/s 32 (1) (i) of the Act is stipulated with respect to buil .....

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..... ry has defined the word plant means fixtures, implements, machinery and apparatus used in carrying on any industrial process . The dictionary meaning of plant shall not include stock-in-trade or the place where the business is carried on. It is a tool of the trade with which business is carried on. In order to find out whether building constitute plant , functional test must be applied but the same test is not conclusive. It must be seen whether the building or structure or part thereof constitute an apparatus or tool of the tax-payer or whether it is merely a space where tax-payer carries on his business. If the building or structure or part thereof is, something by means of which the business activities are carried on, it would constitute plant but where the structure plays no part in carrying on of these activities but merely constitutes a place within which they are carried on, it cannot be regarded as a plant. Thus, the true test is whether it is a means of carrying on the business or the location for so doing. In order for a building or concrete structure to qualify for inclusion in the term plant it must be established that it is impossible for the equipment to func .....

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..... es whatever apparatus is used by a businessmen carrying on his business-not his stock-in-trade which he buys or makes for sale; but all goods and chattels, fixed or movable, live or dead, which he keeps for permanent employment in his business. Thereafter it was observed as under : . . . The dry dock was in our view not the mere setting or premises in which ships were repaired. It was different from a factory which housed machinery, for in the operation of the dock, the dock itself played a part in the control of water and enabled the valves, pumps and electricity generator, which were an integral part of its construction, to perform their functions. The dock was not a mere shelter or home but itself played an essential part in the operations which took place in getting a ship into the dock, holding it securely and then returning it to the river. (p. 79) It was further observed that plant was not defined under the 1961 Act and thereafter held that every part of this dry dock plays an essential part in getting large vessels into a position where the work on the outside of the hull can begin, and that it is wrong to regard either the concrete or any other part of th .....

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..... nded. It was further observed that function is no more than an element for deciding whether it is a plant or a building. 27. We may mention at the stage that even in England House of Lords has repeatedly commented that the word plant is given imprecise application because of the artificial meaning given to it. In Cole Bros. Ltd. v. Phillips (Inspector of Taxes) [1982] (1) WLR 1450. The House of Lords considered the question-whether expenditure incurred in electric lighting installation and conduit and cables to socket outlets, constituted expenditure on the provision of plant so as to qualify for capital allowance. For the expression plant Lord Hailsham observed : ...that the word plant in the relevant sense, although admittedly not a term of art, and therefore, part of the general English tongue, is not, in the sense, an ordinary word, but one of imprecise application, and, so far as I can see, has been applied to industrial and commercial equipment in a highly analogical and metaphorical sense, borrowed, unless I am mistaken, from the world of Botany. For the purpose, the Court quoted the words of Buckley L.J. in Benson v. Yard Arm Club Ltd. [1979] 1 W .....

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..... has been held to be so: so why not such equally improbable items as murals, or tapestries, or chandeliers ? [Emphasis supplied] 29. The House of Lords observed that even the functional test was inconclusive. Therefore, the Court suggested that each case must be resolved by considering carefully the nature of the particular trade being carried on, and the relation of the expenditure to the promotion of the trade. Applying that test the Court held : I do not find it impossible to attribute to Parliament an intention to encourage by fiscal inducement the improvement of hotel amenity. 30. In the said case, Lord Lowry also considered the case of Benson (supra) in which ship, or floating hulk, used as a restaurant was held not to be plant and observed : the Crown relied on the case because of the fact that the ship was used to create a shipboard feeling , in other words, a certain kind of atmosphere, among the patrons. But the distinction is that the ship, although a chattel, was the place in which the trade was carried on and was therefore the equivalent of the various premises in which the present taxpayer company carry on their trade and not of the apparatus used a .....

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..... is first put to use in the immediately succeeding previous year, then, in respect of that previous year : Provided that no deduction shall be allowed under this clause in respect of- (a) any machinery or plant installed in any office premises or any residential accommodation; (b) any office appliances or road transport vehicles; and (c) any machinery or plant, the whole of the actual cost of which is allowed as a deduction (whether by way of depreciation of otherwise) in computing the income chargeable under the head profits and gains of business or profession of any one previous year. Explanation - For the purpose of this clause,- (a) new machinery or plant shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (2) of t he Explanation below clause (vi) of this sub-section; (b) residential accommodation includes accommodation in the nature of a guest house but does not include premises used as a hotel; (iii) in the case of any building, machinery, plant or furniture which is sold, discarded, demolished or destroyed in the previous year (other than the previous year in which it is first brought into use) , the amount by which the money .....

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..... small-scale industrial undertaking for the purposes of business of manufacture or production of any other articles or things, a sum equal to twenty per cent of the actual cost of the ship, aircraft, machinery or plant to the assessee, in respect of the previous year in which the ship or aircraft is acquired or the machinery or plant is installed, or if the ship, aircraft, machinery of plant is first put to use in the immediately succeeding previous year, then, in respect of that previous year; but any such sum shall not be deductible in determining the written down value for the purposes of clause (ii) : Provided ****** Provided further that no deduction shall be allowed under this clause in respect of- (a) any machinery or plant installed in any office promises or any residential accommodation, including any accommodation in the nature of a guest-house, ****** (1A) Where the business or profession is carried on in a building not owned by the assessee but in respect of which the assessee holds a lease or other right of occupancy and any capital expenditure is incurred by the assessee for the purposes of the business or profession after the 31st day of .....

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..... ctions such as woodeh structure. 100 4. In respect of any structure of work in or in relation to a building referred to in sub-section (1A) of section 32,- (a) Where such structure is constructed or such work is done by way of renovation or improvement to any such building. The percentage specified against sub-Items 1, 2 or 3, as may be appropriate to the class of building in or in relation to which the renovation or improvement is effected ; (b) Where the structure is constructed or work is done by way of extension to any such building The percentage specified against sub-items 1, 2 or 3 as would be appropriate if the structure of work constituted a separate building. II. Furniture and Fittings .....

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..... lbs of studio lights. 100 ** ** ** IV. Ships 1. Ocean : going ships- (i) Fishing vessels with wooden hull 10 To be calculated on the (ii) Dredgers, tugs, barges, survey launches and other similar ships used mainly for dredging purpose. 7 actual cost (iii) Other Ships 5 2. Vessels ordinarily operating on Inland waters- Speed boats 20 Other vessels 10 Aforesaid clauses of t .....

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..... enever it is erected , while for machinery and plant, the words used are whenever it is installed and there is no question of installing building. Section 32(1) (iia) uses the phrase machinery or plant installed in any premises used as a hotel and section 33(1) (b) (B) (ii) provides in case of machinery or plant is installed for the purposes of business or construction etc. which indicates that plant is to be installed and there is no question of erection. (5) Under the Rules as qouted above, separate rates are prescribed under the Heading (I) Buildings, and (II) Furniture and fittings, (III) Machinery and plant and (IV) Ships. These headings have been further sub-divided providing different rates. Like, Building is divided into (i) building generally, (ii) special rate in respect of factory building and (iii) temporary erections such as wooden structures. In the remarks column (3) it is stated that buildings include roads, bridges, culverts, wells and tubewells. Furniture and fittings is also divided into (i) general rate and (ii) rate for furniture and fittings used in hotels, restaurants and boarding houses, cinema house theatres etc. Similarly, Machinery and .....

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..... by the Government of India this Court in the case of Dy. Chief Controller of Imports Exports v. K.T. Kosalram 1970 (3) SCC 82 observed thus : In our opinion dictionary meanings, however helpful in understudying the general sense of the words cannot control where the scheme of the statute or the instrument considered as a whole clearly conveys a somewhat different shade of meaning. It is not always a safe way to construe a statute or a contract by dividing it by a process of etymological dissection and after separating words from their context to give each word some particular definition given by lexicographers and then to reconstruct the instrument upon the basis of these definitions. What particular meaning should be attached to words and phrases in a given instrument is usually to be gathered from the context, the nature of the subject matter, the purpose or the intention of the author and the effect of giving to them one or the other permissible meaning on the object to be achieved. Words are after all used merely as a vehicle to convey the idea of the speaker or the writer and the words have naturally, therefore, to be so construed as to fit in with the idea which emer .....

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..... ld not mean that it includes building which is treated separately from machinery and plant. Wider meaning to word plant is given by including specified items mentioned above, that is, it includes ships, vehicles, books, etc. 36. In Taj Mahal Hotel s case (supra) this Court specifically observed that it is well-settled that where the definition of the word has not been given it must be construed in its popular sense if it is a word of every day use. The Court also observed that even books have been included in the word plant , therefore, wider meaning should be given so as to include those things which the interpretation clause declares that they shall include. Further, it is to be stated that section 43 itself provides that unless the context otherwise requires the word plant is to be given wider meaning as stated therein. This wider meaning does not include building. But in any case even for the time being presuming that the judge-made meaning of the word plant includes building in certain set of circumstances, in context of section 32 such wider meaning cannot be given and plant would not include building in which hotel business is run or a theatre building in whic .....

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..... everything relating to it; (3) A room or hall arranged with seats that rise as they recede from a platform, especially adapted to lectures, surgical demonstrations, etc.; (4) Any place of semi-circular form with seats rising by easy gradations; (5) Any place or region that is the scene of events: a theatre of operations in war. This would mean that cinema business can be run in a premises adapted for that purpose which may or may not be specially designed. Further, on the basis of test laid down in the case of Barclay, Curle Co. Ltd. (supra) such building or premises would be the place in which operation of carrying on of business takes place and not that they are means by which the operation is performed. Even the House of Lords in the case of Benson (supra) arrived at the conclusion that a ship or a floating hulks used as a restaurant was not a plant, even though the ship was used to create a shipboard feeling and certain kind of atmosphere among the patrons. In our view such buildings cannot be termed as tools for running business but are mere shelter for carrying on such business activities. Therefore, even functional test, which is followed and which according to us would .....

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..... xiliary or dependent position. Further, in Wimpy International Ltd. v. Warland Associated Restaurants Ltd. 61 Tax Cases 51], the court of Appeal dealt with a case where the appellants owned and operated fast food restaurants and expended money on improving and modernising their restaurants, i.e., by spending on shop fronts, floor and wall tiles, wall finishes and other non-decorative items which was held by the Special Commissioners as part of setting or premises in which trades were carried on. The appellants contended that all the items were installed to improve the ambience of the restaurant and to attract customers and were thus plant. The Court held that they were not plants. The Court took up each and every item of decoration separately for analysing whether it constituted a plant or not. Like for shop fronts or doors, the Court agreed with the observations of the Chancery Division that none of the shop fronts or doors qualifies as plant by holding that their principal function is to form a necessary part of the premises and doors are needed for ingress and egress. None of the floor or wall tiles can be classed as plants. They are chosen so as to create an attractiv .....

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..... aving a separate identity. In Carr (H.M. Inspector of Taxes) v. Sayer 65 Tax Cases 15, the Chancery Division considered a case where the taxpayers carried on business of providing quarantine kennels and transport services for dogs and cats brought into the United Kingdom from abroad. Quarantine kennels were constructed at their premises. Some of the kennels were movable. The permanent kennels comprised a flat-roofed structure which consisted principally of a series of pens divided from each other by walls and with bars and metal mesh across the front. The Court held that those kennels were not plant; they were purpose-build permanent buildings or structures, used as such, and were the premises in which business was conducted; while they were specifically designed for quarantine purposes, the particular roof and walls were building design features and no more, which did not result in structures being characterised as anything other than buildings or lead to the end result having the character of equipment or apparatus. For this purpose, the Court referred to various principles in context of section 41(i) of the Finance Act, 1971, which is applicable to machinery or plant . I .....

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..... depreciation allowance on building, machinery, plant or furniture and also for extra allowance in case of new machinery or plant installed in premises other than the premises used as office or any residential accommodation and also for new building erected and used as a hotel. As against that, the aforesaid decisions by Courts in England are based upon section 41 of the Finance Act, which provide for allowance for capital expenditure incurred on the provisions of machinery or plant for the purposes of the trade and the Courts were only dealing with general meaning of the word plant . Even there, as quoted above, Courts have specifically held that creation of atmosphere in a hotel by beautiful buildings and gardens would not make such buildings as plants. Suitability of such building is simply the reason why the business is carried on there which may flourish, but the premises remains as premises where business is carried on and is not some thing with which business is carried on. In Carry (H.M. Inspector of Taxes) s case (supra) , the Court observed that a hotel building remains a building even when constructed to a luxury specification and also a hospital building for infectiou .....

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..... business, trade or industry, building is required to carry on such activity. That means building plays some role and in other words, its function is to shelter the business, but it has no other function except in some rare cases such as dry dock where it plays an essential part in the operations which take place in getting a ship into the dock, holding it squarely and then returning it to the river. Building is more durable. If contention of the assessee is accepted, virtually all such buildings would be considered to be a plant and distinction which the Legislature has made between the building and machinery or plant would be obliterated. 42. The learned counsel for the assessee submitted that the words plant and building are not mutually exclusive. Plant may include building in certain set of circumstances and, therefore, applying the functional tests assessee would be entitled to depreciation under the head it is more beneficial to it . He submitted that in the modern era, theatre building and hotel building are integral part of operation for carrying out such business and, therefore, such building should be considered as a plant . 43. As discussed abo .....

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..... yet the Legislature or the CBDT (Revenue Board) has not clarified the same at any point of time inspite of conflicting judgments of the High Courts on the subject. The learned counsel for the assessee further submitted that even though the Legislature was alive to the issue and amended section 43(3) of the Act by the Finance Act, 1995 by excluding tea bushes and livestock with retrospective effect from 1962, it has not excluded the buildings which are used for running hotel or cinema business. It has not clarified or carried out any amendment in the provision and, therefore, it should be held that interpretation given by the High Courts was accepted by the revenue and the Legislature. We do not know that the Revenue Board was alive to the said controversy. If that was so, it would have clarified either way and litigations could have been avoided. But that is no ground for accepting interpretation suggested by the learned counsel for the assessees which would be inconsistent with scheme of section 32. 46. In the result, it is held that the building used for running of a hotel or carrying on cinema business cannot be held to be a plant because : (1) The scheme of section .....

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..... similarly, a hospital building for infectious diseases which might require a special layout and other features also remains a premises and is not plant. It is to be added that all these decisions are based upon the interpretation of the phrase machinery or plant under section 41 of the Finance Act, 1971, which was applicable and there appears no such distinction for grant of allowance on different heads as provided under section 32 of the Income-tax Act. (7) To differentiate a building for grant of additional depreciation by holding it to be a plant in one case where the building is specially designed and constructed with some special features to attract the customers and a building not so constructed but used for the same purpose, namely, as a hotel or theatre would be unreasonable. Hence, the question is answered in favour of the revenue and against the assessee by holding that building which is used as a hotel or a cinema theatre cannot be given depreciation as plant. If we now analyze the Hoarding Structures constructed and erected by the assessee in context of the above definitions and meaning assigned to the word Plant vis- vis Building as .....

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..... ther are merely permanent structures embedded in the building having foundation being constructed and erected by the assessee firm and are used for the purposes of advertisements by the entities desirous of advertising their products and/or services on these hoarding structures . Our view is fortified by the decision of Hon ble Supreme Court in the case of CIT v. Anand Theaters (supra) .Thus, in our considered view, these advertising hoarding structures which are permanent structures embedded in the building having foundation being erected and constructed by the assessee firm are in-fact Building and the assessee firm is entitled for depreciation @ 10%. We order accordingly. 10 The second ground is with respect to the claim of interest by the assessee firm. The assessee firm has for the year claimed interest expenses of ₹ 6,98,075/- . The A.O. observed from the details of business activity during the year that the entire receivables is from its group concerns includes M/s Creations Publicity P. Ltd. It was also noticed by the A.O. from the P L A/c and Balance sheet of earlier years that the major activities were with its group concerns and a major amount of its receivabl .....

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..... ssessee firm. He observed that there was no business exigency for such long term credits offered to its group concern especially when it is operating on substantial borrowed funds. He further noted that the parties from whom loans are stated to have been taken are entitles of small means whose income invariably falls below the taxable limit or attracts nominal tax. The payments of interest have been made mostly without deduction of tax at source and only an amount of ₹ 90,000/- was subjected to deduction of taxes at source. The A.O. relied upon the judgment of Hon ble Supreme Court in the case of Mcdowell Co. Ltd. v. CTO reported in 154 ITR 148 and held that the entire interest cannot be attributed to the business requirement of the assessee firm and in the interest of natural justice , only 25% of the interest expense claimed i.e. ₹ 1,74,519/- was disallowed by the A.O. , vide assessment order dated 30-11-2009 passed u/s 143(3) of the Act. 11.Aggrieved by the assessment orders dated 30-11-2009 passed by the AO u/s 143(3) of the Act, the assessee firm preferred an appeal before the CIT(A) . 12. Before the CIT(A) , the assessee firm submitted that the assessee fi .....

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..... 7; 40 lakhs being 74% of ₹ 54.23 lakhs being the annual turnover while remaining ₹ 71 lakhs on account of sundry debtors is in the nature of interest free credit advanced by the assessee firm to its group concern. As the average cost of funds by the assessee firm is 4.92%, the same has been applied on ₹ 71 lakhs and worked out to ₹ 34,932/-. Thus out of the addition made by the A.O., a sum of ₹ 34,932/- was sustained as interest cost incurred for advancing excessive credit to the sister concern and treated as not for the purpose of business and the balance addition was deleted by the ld. CIT(A) vide orders dated 31.12.2012. 13 Aggrieved by the orders dated 31.12.2012 of the CIT(A) , the assessee firm is in appeal before the Tribunal. 14. The ld. Counsel for the assessee firm submitted that in the case of group concern of the assessee firm i.e. M/s Creasons, identical matter came before the Mumbai-Tribunal in ITA No. 6846/Mum/2013 for the assessment year 2007-08 and the Mumbai-Tribunal vide orders dated 27.5.2014 held as under:- 8. I have carefully considered the submissions of learned Departmental Representative and perused the record. It is .....

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..... ve observed that the assessee firm has borrowed funds which were utilized for the purpose of its business. The assessee has made turnover of ₹ 54.23 lacs which was with respect to transactions with M/s Creations Publicity P. Ltd., assessee s group concern and this is the only sale made by the assessee firm during the assessment year . The assessee firm stated that the said sale has been made based on commercial expediency. We have observed that identical matter of allowability of claim of interest expenditure was decided by the Mumbai-Tribunal in ITA No. 6846/Mum/2013 for the assessment year 2007-08 vide orders dated 27.5.2014 in the case of group concern of the assessee firm i.e. M/s Creasons and the issue was decided in favour of the said concern M/s Creasons as under: 8. I have carefully considered the submissions of learned Departmental Representative and perused the record. It is not in dispute that the assessee has obtained loan for business purpose and utilised the same for the purpose of business. Interest paid by the assessee on such loan was allowed as deduction from year to year. Therefore there is no dispute with regard to the fact that the expenditure is whol .....

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..... eavy repairing of the existing permanent cement foundations and painting the structures embedded in the building on the hoarding sites. The charges and expense of materials like cement, sand, metal, water proof powder were also added. The cost was also inclusive of thick cement plaster on all sides of the foundation and also the boundary/parapet wall and applying white wash and red oxide colour to prevent corrosion/decay thereon due to rain and weather effect. The A.O. observed that from the supporting s maintained that the expenses have been incurred for capital purpose giving enduring benefit and cannot be classified as current repairs u/s 30 31 of the Act as the same are not in the nature of current repairs. The assessee firm has not been able to substantiate as to how the same is in the nature of current repairs allowable as a revenue expense. It was also observed by the A.O. that the amount on repairs are stated to be of ₹ 14.05 lakhs which is substantial when compared to the depreciated cost of the asset at the beginning of the year which was only ₹ 1,61,949/-. The assessee firm relied on the decision in the case of Balimal Naval Kishore and Another v. CIT, 224 .....

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..... The remaining 50% is estimated on account of revenue account mainly towards painting. Therefore, the addition to the extent of ₹ 2,47,000/- on account of this bill is sustained. With respect to the 3rd bill, it shows that on account of labour charges for heavy and extensive repairing of the parapets wall cement, foundation and steel structure in respect of two other sites aggregating to ₹ 4,95,000/-. The description in this bill is almost identical and it is seen that the expenses were on account of labour and material cost such as cement, metal etc for the foundation, water proofing and other expenses on account of painting etc. Considering the nature of expenses, the CIT(A) held that 50% of the same is on account of capital expenditure being the cost of laying the foundation and erection of iron structure of the hoarding. The balance is on account of revenue account. The CIT(A) accordingly sustained the additions made by the AO to the extent of ₹ 2,47,500/-. Thus, the total addition on account of hoarding expenses is sustained to the extent of ₹ 5,94,500/- , vide orders dated 31.12.2012. 20.Aggrieved by the orders dated 31.12.2012 of the CIT(A) , the a .....

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..... such expenditure is a recurring expenditure which is required to be incurred by the assessee regularly and the same therefore cannot be said to have given any enduring benefit to the assessee in capital field. Moreover, even if the hoarding expenditure claimed by the assessee is inclusive of replacement of M.S. Angles etc., as noted by the A.O., the same is in the nature of replacement of parts of the hoarding structure which cannot be treated as capital expenditure. As such, considering all the facts of the case, we are of the view that the assessee is entitled to deduction on account of hoarding expenditure being in the nature of revenue expenditure. In that view of the matter, we delete the disallowance made by the A.O. and confirmed by the ld. CIT(A) on this issue and allow the appeal of the assessee. 22. The ld. D.R., on the other hand, supported the orders of authorities below. 23. We have considered the rival submission and also perused the material available on record including the orders of the Tribunal. The assessee firm has undertaken repairs of the hoarding structures with respect to the existing structure. We find that the issue has already been decided in favou .....

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