TMI Blog1996 (2) TMI 567X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Income-tax Act, 1961, in respect of its various amounts of income from the following sources in India : (a) Conducting various courses and certification programmes in hospitality management and operations. (b) Providing educational and training materials. (c) Conducting seminars, workshops and other programmes. (d) Providing training, course materials and instructional resources to the in-house faculty of various institutions. (ii) Whether the applicant would be entitled to exemption under section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ? The applicant, Educational Institute of American Hotel and Motel Association (hereinafter referred to as the EI ), a non-resident, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Hotel and Mo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... am to upgrade the professionalism and instructional ability of those teaching hospitality management courses in India ; (d) offer a comprehensive certification and registration program for individuals currently employed in the hospitality industry in India ; (e) develop an accreditation system to permit the National Council to qualify and recognise proprietary schools ; (f) develop through grant support, an entrance test to identify individuals best qualified to enter the hospitality industry ; (g) establish an office in India to implement and co-ordinate the Institute's activities ; (h) offer the National Council the lowest possible prices for the products and services sold to or utilised by the schools under the umbrell ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nce will be made later. Stress was laid on the fact that the Institute was not organised for pecuniary profit and no part of its net earnings enure to the benefit of any member or director or to any other individual other than those who shall properly benefit from carrying out its purposes. Even in the event of dissolution or liquidation, the assets of the applicant can only be distributed exclusively to other entities created or organised exclusively for educational purposes similar to that of the applicant. The Commissioner of Income-tax appearing on behalf of the Department stated that the applicant should be called upon to furnish rigorous proof in support of its claim which should not be accepted at its face value. If the applicant ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ly for educational purposes and not for purposes of profit, then that income would be entitled to exemption and further the income should be directly relatable to the educational activity. Keeping in view these criteria, the activities of EI in India have to be examined to determine the applicability of section 10(22) to the income enumerated in question (i). The main thing to be seen is the objects of the institution and the source and utilisation of its income. An examination of the Statement of purposes becomes essential at this stage. The activities undertaken and the rights of the applicant are as under : Prepare, formulate and distribute, either alone or in co-operation with others, courses of instructional material in th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... item of surplus of receipts over expenses should be completely absent. There can be no doubt, that the purpose of making profits is not the real purpose where the articles of association of the institution clearly provide that its net earnings shall not enure to the benefit of any member or director or to any other individual. Further, even in the event of dissolution no member, trustee, officer of the applicant or any private individual shall be entitled to a share in its corporate assets. The tax exempt status of the applicant under the laws of USA though important has ultimately only persuasive value since the fulfilment of the requirements under the Income-tax Act of 1961 would alone determine the eligibility of the applicant under sect ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... activities of EI as even upon liquidation EI's assets do not inure to the benefit of any individual. So far as the activities in India are concerned if the letter of the Reserve Bank of India granting permission to EI to open a liaison office dated July, 1994, and letter of the Reserve Bank of India to upgrade it to a branch office under section 29(1)(a) of the FERA dated February 10, 1995, are closely seen, paragraphs 3(ii), (iii) and (vi) put certain restrictions on the applicant regarding any new trading, commercial or industrial activity other than those approved thereby. Further by clause 3(ix) of the same letter, the Reserve Bank of India exercises a certain amount of check over the applicant carrying out any other activity. By th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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