Wednesday, March 30, 2016

One can account for income from choreography on cash basis and income from production on accrual basis

Facts
a)    Assessee was a professional dance director for cinematographic films. He was also producing films under a proprietorship concern.
b)    Assessee followed cash system of accounting in respect of his professional receipts whereas he was following mercantile system of accounting for computing income from production of films.
c)    Assessing Officer (AO) took a view that assessee was following hybrid system of accounting which was not permissible in view of amendment made to section 145 of the Income-tax Act by the Finance Act, 1995.

d)    The CIT(A) upheld the order of the AO. Aggrieved by the order of the CIT(A), the assessee filed the instant appeal before the tribunal.

The tribunal held in favour of assessee as under-
1)    Section 145 was amended by the Finance Act, 1995 to provide that the income chargeable under the head business or profession shall be computed in accordance with either cash or mercantile system of accounting.
2)    Hence, in view of the amendment, the hybrid or mixed method of accounting was not permitted to be allowed for computing income under the Act. However, the lawmakers still left the choice of regularly employing either of the two methods, viz., cash method of accounting or mercantile method of accounting.
3)    The words used in the section 145 do not cast any bar on following either cash basis or mercantile basis of accounting by the assessee having more than one source of income within the same head of income.
4)    In the instant case, the assessee had two streams and sources of income under the head ‘income from business or profession', viz., his professional income and also income from production of films.
5)    Hence, following cash system of accounting in respect of one source of income and mercantile system of accounting for another source of income would not amount to following 'hybrid system of accounting'- [2016] 67 taxmann.com 269 (Mumbai - Trib.)

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