LESSON 1

BASIC CONCEPTS
Ms. Monica Singhania
STRUCTURE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Assessment Year
1.3 Previous Year
1.3.1 When income of previous year is not taxable in the immediately
following assessment year
1.3.2 Double role of financial year
1.4 Person
1.5 Assessee
1.6 Charging of Tax on Income
1.7 Meaning of Income
1.8 Gross Total Income
1.9 Income Tax Rates
1.10 Let us sum up
1.11 Glossary
1.12 Self Assessment Exercises
1.13 Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Before one can embark on a study of the law of income-tax, it is absolutely vital
to understand some of the expressions found under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The
purpose of this Chapter is to enable the students to comprehend basic expressions.
Therefore, all such basic terms are explained and suitable illustrations are
provided to define their meaning and scope.

1.1 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson you should be able to understand:
• Concept of assessment year and previous year
• Meaning of person and assessee
• How to charge tax on income
• What is regarded as income under the Income-tax Act
• What is gross total income
• Income-tax rates

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1.2 ASSESSMENT YEAR
“Assessment year” means the period starting from April 1 and ending on March
31 of the next year.
Example- Assessment year 2006-07 which will commence on April 1, 2006, will
end on March 31, 2007.
Income of previous year of an assessee is taxed during the next following
assessment year at the rates prescribed by the relevant Finance Act [for tax rates,
see Para 1.9].

Check Your Progress

Activity A: Every financial year is an assessment year. Comment.

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1.3 PREVIOUS YEAR
Income earned in a year is taxable in the next year. The year in which income is
earned is known as previous year and the next year in which income is taxable is
known as assessment year. In other words, previous year is the financial year
immediately preceding the assessment year.
Illustration 1.1 - For the assessment year 2006-07, the immediately preceding
financial year (i.e., 2005-06) is the previous year.
Income earned by an individual during the previous year 2005-06 is taxable in the
immediately following assessment year 2006-07 at the rates applicable for the
assessment year 2006-07.
Similarly, income earned during the previous year 2006-07 by a company will be
taxable in the assessment year 2007-08 at the rates applicable for the assessment
year 2007-08.
This rule is applicable in all cases [see, however, Para 1.3.1 for exception to this
rule].

Check Your Progress

Activity B: Previous year is a financial year immediately preceding the

assessment year. Comment.
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1.3.1 WHEN INCOME OF PREVIOUS YEAR IS NOT
TAXABLE IN THE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING
ASSESSMENT YEAR

The rule that the income of the previous year is taxable as the income of the
immediately following assessment year has certain exceptions. These are:
a. Income of non-residents from shipping;
b. Income of persons leaving India either permanently or for a long period of
time;
c. Income of bodies formed for short duration;
d. Income of a person trying to alienate his assets with a view to avoiding
payment of tax; and
e. Income of a discontinued business.
In these cases, income of a previous year may be taxed as the income of the
assessment year immediately proceeding the normal assessment year.
These exceptions have been incorporated in order to ensure smooth collection of
income tax from the aforesaid taxpayers who may not be traceable if tax
assessment procedure is postponed till the commencement of the normal
assessment.
1.3.2 A FINANCIAL YEAR HAS A DOUBLE ROLE TO
PLAY - IT IS A PREVIOUS YEAR AS WELL AS AN
ASSESSMENT YEAR

On the basis of the aforesaid discussion, it can be said that a financial year plays a
double role—it is a previous year as well as an assessment year.

1.4 PERSON

The term “person” includes:

a. an individual;
b. a Hindu undivided family;
c. a company;
d. a firm;
e. an association of persons or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not;
f. a local authority; and
g. every artificial juridical person not falling within any of the preceding
categories.
These are seven categories of persons chargeable to tax under the Act. The
aforesaid definition is inclusive and not exhaustive. Therefore, any person, not

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falling in the above-mentioned seven categories, may still fall in the four corners
of the term “person” and accordingly may be liable to tax.

Check Your Progress

Activity C: Indicate whether the following statements are true or false-

1. X is a partner of a firm. He is assessable as an “individual”.
2. Y is a managing director of A Ltd; Y is assessable as an “individual”.
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1.5 ASSESSEE

“Assessee” means a person by whom income tax or any other sum of money is
payable under the Act. It includes every person in respect of whom any
proceeding under the Act has been taken for the assessment of his income or loss
or the amount of refund due to him. It also includes a person who is assessable in
respect of income or loss of another person or who is deemed to be an assessee, or
an assessee in default under any provision of the Act.

1.6 HOW TO CHARGE TAX ON INCOME

To know the procedure for charging tax on income, one should be familiar with
the following:
1 Annual tax - Income-tax is an annual tax on income.
2 Tax rate of assessment year - Income of previous year is chargeable to tax in
the next following assessment year at the tax rates applicable for the assessment
year. This rule is, however, subject to some exceptions [see Para 1.3.1].
3 Rates fixed by Finance Act - Tax rates are fixed by the annual Finance Act and
not by the Income-tax Act. For instance, the Finance Act, 2006, fixes tax rates for
the assessment year 2006-07.
4 Tax on person - Tax is charged on every person [see Para 1.4].
5 Tax on total income - Tax is levied on the “total income” of every assessee
computed in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

1.7 MEANING OF INCOME

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The definition of the term “income” in section 2(24) is inclusive and not
exhaustive. Therefore, the term “income” not only includes those things that are
included in section 2(24) but also includes those things that the term signifies
according to its general and natural meaning.

1.8 GROSS TOTAL INCOME

As per section 14, the income of a person is computed under the following five
heads:
1. Salaries.
2. Income from house property.
3. Profits and gains of business or profession.
4. Capital gains.
5. Income from other sources.
The aggregate income under these heads is termed as “gross total income”. In
other words, gross total income means total income computed in accordance with
the provisions of the Act before making any deduction under sections 80C to 80U.

1.9 INCOME TAX RATES

Rates for the assessment year 2006-07 are as follows—
1. For individual, every HUF/AOP/BOI/artificial juridical person, the tax rates
are as under:
• For resident woman (who is below 65 years at any time during the previous
year) –
Net income range Income-tax rates [see Surcharge Education
also Para 0.6] [see Note cess
1] [see Note 2]
Up to Rs. 1,35,000 Nil Nil Nil
Rs. 1,35,000 – Rs. 10% of (total income Nil 2% of
1,50,000 minus Rs. 1,35,000) income-tax
Rs. 1,50,000 – Rs. Rs. 1,500 + 20% of Nil 2% of
2,50,000 (total income minus income-tax
Rs. 1,50,000)
Rs. 2,50,000 – Rs. Rs. 21,500 + 30% of Nil 2% of
10,00,000 (total income-tax
income minus Rs.
2,50,000)
Above Rs. 10,00,000 Rs. 2,46,500 + 30% 10% of 2% of
of (total income- income-tax
income minus Rs. tax and
10,00,000) surcharge

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• For resident senior citizen (who is 65 years or more at any time during the
previous year) –
Net income range Income-tax rates Surcharge Education
[see Note cess
1] [see Note
2]
Up to Rs. 1,85,000 Nil Nil Nil
Rs. 1,85,000 – Rs. 20% of (total income Nil 2% of
2,50,000 minus Rs. 1,85,000) income-tax
Rs. 2,50,000 – Rs. Rs. 13,000 + 30% of Nil 2% of
10,00,000 (total income minus income-tax
Rs. 2,50,000)
Above Rs. 10,00,000 Rs. 2,38,000 + 30% 10% of 2% of
of (total income income- income-tax
minus Rs. 10,00,000) tax and
surcharge

• For any other individual, every HUF/AOP/BOI/artificial juridical person –

Net income range Income-tax rates Surcharge Education
[see Note cess
1] [see Note
2]
Up to Rs. 1,00,000 Nil Nil Nil
Rs. 1, 00,000 – Rs. 10% of (total income Nil 2% of
1,50,000 minus Rs. 1,00,000) income-tax
Rs. 1, 50,000 – Rs. Rs. 5,000 + 20% of Nil 2% of
2,50,000 (total income minus income-tax
Rs. 1,50,000)
Rs. 2, 50,000 – Rs. Rs. 25,000 + 30% of Nil 2% of
10,00,000 (total income minus income-tax
Rs. 2,50,000)
Above Rs. 10,00,000 Rs. 2,50,000 + 30% 10% of 2% of
of (total income income- income-tax
minus Rs. 10,00,000) tax and
surcharge

Notes:
1. Surcharge for the assessment year 2006-07 - Surcharge is 10 per cent of
income-tax if net income of an individual, Hindu undivided family, association of

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persons, or body of individuals, exceeds Rs. 10, 00,000. In the case of artificial
juridical person, the surcharge is 10 percent of income-tax.
2. Education cess for the assessment year 2006-07 - It is 2 per cent of income-tax
and surcharge.

2. Firms - A firm is taxable at the rate of 30 per cent for the assessment year
2006-07.
Surcharge for the assessment year 2006-07: 10 per cent of income-tax for the
assessment year 2006-07.
Education cess for the assessment year 2006-07 - It is 2 per cent of income-tax
and surcharge.
3 Companies - For the assessment year 2006-07, the following rates of income-
tax are applicable:

Company Rate of income-

tax (per cent)

In the case of a domestic company 30

In the case of a foreign company 40

Surcharge - Surcharge is applicable at the rates given below-

Assessment year 2006-07

Domestic company 10%
Non-domestic company 2.5%

Education cess - It is 2 per cent of income-tax and surcharge for the assessment
year 2006-07.
Activity D: Find out the tax liability in the following cases:
1. Mrs. X (age: 66 years) for the assessment year 2006-07 if her income is Rs. 11,
20,000.
2. X (age: 28 years) for the assessment year 2006-07 if his income is Rs. 5,
56,000.
3. Y (date of birth: April 2, 1940) for the assessment year 2006-07 is his income is
Rs. 8, 86,000.
4. Z (date of birth: January 31, 1952) for the assessment year 2006-07 if his
income is Rs. 15, 10,000.
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1.10 LET US SUM UP

The lesson discusses in detail the meaning of various terms relevant for the
purpose of studying income-tax in India. These terms are: assessment year,
previous, person, assessee and income. In addition, the income-tax rates for the
various categories of assess as are applicable to the assessment year 2006-07 is
also enlisted in a tabular manner.

1.11 GLOSSARY
Financial year: Period of 12 months beginning on April 1 every year and ending
on immediately following March 31.
Finance Act: The finance bill is commonly referred to as budget and is presented
generally on the last day of February every year. The finance bill when signed by
the President becomes the Finance Act.

1.12 SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISES

1. Income of a previous year is chargeable tax in the immediately following
assessment year. Is there any exception to this rule? Discuss.
2. Define the term “person”.
3. How would you calculate income-tax for the assessment year 2006-07 in the
case of different assesses?
4. Explain how surcharge on income-tax and education cess to applicable for the
assessment year 2006-07?
5. X starts his business on April 26, 2005. Determine the previous year to the
assessment year 2006-07?
6. Every financial year is a previous year as well as an assessment year. Discuss.

1.13 FURTHER READINGS AND SOURCES

Income-tax Act, 1961, Taxmann Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi (latest edition).

Singhania, Vinod. K. and Monica Singhania, Students Guide to Income-tax,

Taxmann Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi (latest edition).