The sumptuary allowance is a specific benefit provided to judicial officers in India to cover entertainment expenses. This allowance raises the question of whether it is exempt from income tax. This article delves into the legal
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CA Vijayakumar Shetty qualified in 1994 and in practice since then. Founding partner of Shetty & Co. He is a graduadte from St Aloysius College, Mangalore . View Full Profile
Sd/- Sd/-
(Chandra Poojari) (George George K.)
ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER Cochin ; Dated : 22nd March, 2018.
Devdas* Copy of the Order forwarded to :
1. The Appellant
2. The Respondent.
3. The Pr.CIT Thiruvananthapuram.
4. DR, ITAT, Cochin
5. Guard file. BY ORDER, (Asstt. Registrar)
ITAT, Cochin
Hon’ble Division Bench of Kerala High Court in W.A. No.2069/15 (judgment dated 03.03.2016) held :
“4. Having bestowed our anxious consideration, we do not find our way to disagree with the finding rendered by the learned single Judge following the afore-noted precedents. The learned single Judge, therefore, rightly refused to accept the contention of the Association that the acceptance of the recommendations of the Shetty Commission Report has to be considered as declaration of law by the Hon’ble Supreme Court for the purpose of its enforcement. Those recommendations are matters which may generate room for relief in cases where no rules have been framed; in which event, the learned single Judge has rightly found that the remedy does not lie before this Court. ” This decision was followed by the Cochin Tribunal in ITA No.468/Coch/2016 [Sri.Bathisha Kalam Pasha Vs CIT] & ITA No.469/Coch/2016[Sri.S.V.Unnikrishnan Nair Vs PCIT]- decsion dt 22.03.2018 –
It is being claimed that the honble Income Tax Appellate Tribunal – Jaipur in its decision dt 14.09.2018 in the case of Shilpa Sameer vs ITO, Jaipur [ITA 818/JP/2016] & decision dt 19.06.2018 in the case of Shri Ajay Godara Vs ITO [ITA No. 614/JP/2016] had held that the Sumptuary Allowance is exempt. A careful reading of the decisions makes it clear that the Tribunal did not held so and in fact discussed the HC /SC Judges Acts too. What was held in this decision is that the Sumptuary Allowance is to be treated as “Entertainment Allowance”
