COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX Vs. RAMZAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a reference at the instance of the Commissioner of Income Tax, Kerala, by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Madras Bench, under S.66(1) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922. The assessment year with which we are concerned is 1956-57; and the accounting period, 1-4-1956 to 31-4-1957. The question referred is:

(2.) It is agreed that the assessee had applied for a tax clearance certificate under S.46A of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922. Under that section the assessee though admittedly domiciled in India could not leave the territory of India by land, sea or air unless he first obtained the certificate contemplated therein, if he had in the opinion of the income tax authority concerned no intention of returning to this country.

(3.) S.24A provides that when it appears to the Income Tax Officer, that any person may leave the taxable territories during the current financial year, or shortly after its expiry, & that he has no present intention of returning, the Income Tax Officer may proceed to assess him on his total income of the period from the expiry of the last previous year of which the income has been assessed in his hands to the probable date of his departure from the taxable territories. The wording of S.46A and 24A makes it clear that the lack of an intention of returning to India is the foundation both for the need for a certificate under S.46A for a person of Indian domicile, and of an assessment under S.24A of the Act.