TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1964 (4) TMI 18
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.... consisted of several persons combined together for the purpose of purchasing coal in order to supply the same to customers for domestic purposes and other small scale industries. For the assessment year 1948-49 the Income-tax Officer levied tax upon the total income in the hands of the said association of persons. The assessee claimed that in the circumstances of the case it should not be assessed to tax as an association of persons, but the proportion of the income in the hands of each of the members of the association might be assessed to tax instead. As the Income-tax Officer did not comply with this request, the assessee preferred an appeal to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, but it was dismissed. On a further appeal to the Income....
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....s, though the individual's share in the income may be added to his individual income for the purposes of ascertaining his total income. He further argues that even if the Income-tax Officer has the option to assess to income-tax the association of persons on its total income or the individual members thereof in respect of their proportionate share of the income, if he had exercised the option in one way or the other neither the Appellate Assistant Commissioner in appeal nor the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal in further appeal has power to direct the Income-tax Officer to exercise his discretion in a different way ; and for this conclusion he seeks to draw strength from his further submission that no appeal lies at the instance of the ass....
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....e, enhance or annul the assessment, or (b) set aside the assessment and direct the Income-tax Officer to make a fresh assessment after making such further inquiry as the Income-tax Officer thinks fit or the Appellate Assistant Commissioner may direct, and the Income-tax Officer shall thereupon proceed to make such fresh assessment and determine where necessary the amount of tax payable on the basis of such fresh assessment... (4) Where as the result of an appeal any change is made in the assessment of a firm or association of persons or a new assessment of a firm or association of persons is ordered to be made, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner may authorise the Income-tax Officer to amend accordingly any assessment made on any partn....
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....n association or not, is liable to the charge under the head " every individual ". Section 14(2)(b) only says that if such an individual happens to be a member of an association of persons which has already been assessed, the tax would not be payable in respect of the share of his income again. That under the Act an assessment can be made on an association of persons as a unit or, alternatively, on the individual members thereof in respect of their respective shares of the income was assumed by this court in Commissioner of Income-tax v. Raja Reddy Mallaram. We, therefore, hold that section 3 impliedly gives an option to an appropriate authority to assess the total income of either the association of persons or the members of such associati....
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....an association of persons that the members thereof shall be assessed individually does not fall under one or other of the three heads mentioned above. What is the substance of the objection of the assessee ? The assessee denies his liability to be assessed under the Act in the circumstances of the case and pleads that the members of the association shall be assessed only individually. The expression " denial of liability " is comprehensive enough to take in not only the total denial of liability but also the liability to tax under particular circumstances. In either case the denial is a denial of liability to be assessed under the provisions of the Act. In one case the assessee says that he is not liable to be assessed to tax under the Act,....
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....n 60 days of the date on which such order is communicated to him. Under section 33(4). " The Appellate Tribunal may, after giving both parties to the appeal an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit, and shall communicate any such orders to the assessee and to the Commissioner." Under section 33(5), " Where as the result of an appeal any change is made in the assessment of a firm or association of persons or a new assessment of a firm or association of persons is ordered to be made, the Appellate Tribunal may authorise the Income-tax Officer to amend accordingly any assessment made on any partner of the firm or any member of the association ". Under this section the Appellate Tribunal has ample power to set as....