AGRA BULLION EXCHANGE LIMITED Vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE question referred for the opinion of this court is :

(2.) THE assessee is a company incorporated in 1946 and appears to have been formed specifically with a view to bring together merchants dealing in gold and silver in Agra. One of the objects of the company, notice by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal is :

(3.) IN fact the assessee company acts as a clearing house. The orders of the INcome-tax Officer and the Appellate Assistant Commissioner have been appended to the statement of the case and made part of it. The INcome-tax Officer subjected to tax a amounts received for charity from the trading members. On appeal the tax was upheld by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. When a second appeal was preferred to the INcome-tax Appellate Tribunal, Mr. Dalal, the Accountant Member, took the view that the amount received for charity was not the income of the assessee at all. The amount paid by the trading members included commission, brokerage which to the assessee company as its own commission, brokerage which was paid to the assessee company for being passed on to brokers through whom the trading members had transacted business and difference which had to be passed on to person with whom the transactions had been entered into and who were entitled to the amounts. Similarly amounts paid for charity were intended to be spent on charitable objects according to the rules of the company. The amount so paid for charity was not a part of the companys remuneration. Nor was it intended to be paid to the company itself could not be included in the total income of the assessee.