Assessment when assets are held by courts of wards, administrators-general,
etc.
21. (1) 77[Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1A), in the case of assets
chargeable to tax under this Act], which are held by a court of wards or an
administrator-general or an official trustee or any receiver or manager or any
other person, by whatever name called, appointed under any order of a court to
manage property on behalf of another, or any trustee appointed under a trust
declared by a duly executed instrument in writing, whether testamentary or
otherwise (including a trustee under a valid deed of wakf), the wealth-tax
shall be levied upon and recoverable from the court of wards,
administrator-general, official trustee, receiver, manager or trustee, as the
case may be, in the like manner and to the same extent as it would be leviable
upon and recoverable from the person on whose behalf 78[or for whose benefit] the assets are held,
and the provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly.
79[Explanation.—A trust which is not declared by a duly executed
instrument in writing (including a valid deed of wakf) shall be deemed, for the
purposes of this sub-section, to be a trust declared by a duly executed
instrument in writing if a statement in writing, signed by the trustee or
trustees, setting out the purpose or purposes of the trust, particulars as to
the trustee or trustees, the beneficiary or beneficiaries and the trust property,
is forwarded to the 80[Assessing
Officer],—
(i) where the trust has been declared before the 1st day of June,
1981, within a period of three months from that day ; and
(ii) in any other case, within three months from the date of
declaration of the trust.]
81[(1A) Where the value or aggregate value of the interest or interests of
the person or persons on whose behalf or for whose benefit such assets are held
falls short of the value of any such assets, then, in addition to the
wealth-tax leviable and recoverable under sub-section (1), the wealth-tax shall
be levied upon and recovered from the court of wards, administrator-general,
official trustee, receiver, manager or other person or trustee aforesaid in
respect of the value of such assets, to the extent it exceeds the value or
aggregate value of such interest or interests, as if such excess value were the
net wealth of an individual who is a citizen of India and resident in India for
the purposes of this Act, and—
(i) at
the rates specified in Part I of Schedule I ; or
(ii) at
the rate of three per cent,
whichever
course would be more beneficial to the revenue.]
(2) Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall
prevent either the direct assessment of the person on whose behalf 82[or for whose benefit] the assets above referred
to are held, or the recovery from such person of the tax payable in respect of
such assets.
(3) Where the guardian or trustee of any
person being a minor, lunatic or idiot 83[***] holds any assets on behalf 84[or for the benefit] of such beneficiary, the tax under this Act shall
be levied upon and recoverable from such guardian or trustee, as the case may
be, in the like manner and to the same extent as it would be leviable upon and
recoverable from any such beneficiary if of full age, of sound mind and in
direct ownership of such assets.
85[(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in 86[the foregoing provisions of] this section,
where the shares of the persons on whose behalf or for whose benefit any such
assets are held are indeterminate or unknown, the wealth-tax shall be levied
upon and recovered from the court of wards, administrator-general, official
trustee, receiver, manager, or other person aforesaid 87[, as the case may be, in the like manner and
to the same extent as it would be leviable upon and recoverable from an individual
who is a citizen of India and resident in India] for the purposes of this Act,
and—
(a) at the rates specified in Part I of 88[Schedule I] 89[***] ; or
(b) at the rate of 90[three per cent],
whichever
course would be more beneficial to the revenue :
Provided that in a case where—
(i) such assets are held 91[under a trust declared
by any person by will and such trust is the only trust so declared by him] ; or
92[(ia) none of
the beneficiaries has net wealth exceeding the amount not chargeable to
wealth-tax in the case of an individual who is a citizen of India and resident
in India for the purposes of this Act or is a beneficiary under any other trust
; or]
(ii) such
assets are held under a trust created before the 1st day of March, 1970, by a
non-testamentary instrument and the 93[Assessing Officer] is
satisfied, having regard to all the circumstances existing at the relevant
time, that the trust was created bona fide exclusively for the benefit
of the relatives of the settlor or where the settlor is a Hindu undivided
family, exclusively for the benefit of the members of such family, in
circumstances where such relatives or members were mainly dependent on the
settlor for their support and maintenance ; or
(iii) such
assets are held by the trustees on behalf of a provident fund, superannuation
fund, gratuity fund, pension fund or any other fund created bona fide by
a person carrying on a business or profession exclusively for the benefit of
persons employed in such business or profession,
wealth-tax shall be charged at the rates specified in Part I of 94[Schedule
I] 95[***].]
96[Explanation 1.—For the purposes of this
sub-section, the shares of the persons on whose behalf or for whose benefit any
such assets are held shall be deemed to be indeterminate or unknown unless the
shares of the persons on whose behalf or for whose benefit such assets are held
on the relevant valuation date are
expressly stated in the order of the court or instrument of trust or
deed of wakf, as the case may be, and
are ascertainable as such on the date of such order, instrument or deed.]
97[Explanation 98[2].—Notwithstanding
anything contained in section 5, in computing the net wealth 99[for the purposes of this sub-section or
sub-section (4A) in any case, not being a case referred to in the proviso to
this sub-section], any assets referred to in clauses (xv), (xvi), (xxii),
(xxiii), (xxiv), (xxv), (xxvi), (xxvii), (xxviii) and (xxix) of sub-section (1) of that section shall not
be excluded.]
1[(4A) Notwithstanding anything contained in
this section, where the assets chargeable to tax under this Act are held by a
trustee under an oral trust, the wealth-tax shall be levied upon and recovered
from such trustee in the like manner and to the same extent as it would be leviable upon and recoverable
from an individual who is a citizen of India and resident in India for the
purposes of this Act, and—
(a) at the rates specified in Part I of Schedule I ; or
(b) at the rate of three per cent,
whichever course would be more
beneficial to the revenue.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, “oral trust” means a trust which
is not declared by a duly executed instrument in writing (including a valid
deed of wakf) and which is not deemed under the Explanation to sub-section
(1) to be a trust declared by a duly executed instrument in writing.]
2[(5) Any person who pays any sum by virtue of
the provisions of this section in respect of the net wealth of any beneficiary,
shall be entitled to recover the sum so paid from such beneficiary, and may
retain out of any assets that he may hold on behalf or for the benefit of such
beneficiary, an amount equal to the sum so paid.
Explanation.—In this section, the term “beneficiary” means any person including a
minor, lunatic or idiot on whose behalf or for whose benefit assets are held by
any other person.]
3[(6) Nothing contained in this section shall
apply to and in relation to any assessment for the assessment year commencing
on the 1st day of April, 1993 or any subsequent assessment year.]