CNV1-I1-20-Tit Bits

Tax Deduction as ‘Plant’ expenses for ‘Heart’ surgery?

Shanti Bhushan, a lawyer was seeking approval from the Court for the allowance of income tax deduction for the expenses made on heart surgery. He claimed that a heart is a plant and the medical expenses should be treated as current repairs.  As he has suffered heart attack due to his professional work, he claimed that the expenditure incurred on medical treatment must be allowed as deduction under Section 31 of the Income Tax Act.  On rejection of claims by IT department, Mr Bhushan appealed to the Delhi Court which dismissed the appeal on the following ground:

“The claim for deduction u/s 31 is not acceptable because;

(a) In widest meaning of plant,  ‘Heart’ does not satisfy the ‘functionality’ of plant as it is for human survival and not used as a tool of trade.

(b) If expenses on repair of plant are admitted as a deduction, the plant would necessarily have to be reflected as an asset in the books of accounts and which is not reflected in the past financial records of the assessee;

The Court also views that the assessee’s claim under section 37 of the IT Act does not fulfil the condition which is that the expenses in issue have been incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the assessee’s profession.

{Source: Shanti Bhushan vs. CIT (2011) 199 Taxman 280 (Del)}

Whose copyrights?

A selfie taken by a black macaque (black ape) on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has become a copyrights war between Wikipedia and the photographer, who has claimed that he is the owner of the selfie. Wikipedia has refused to remove the famous selfie, saying the monkey and not the photographer owns the copyright because the animal took it. It is mentioned in the message on Wikipedia site that “This file is in the public domain because as the work of a nonhuman (animal), it has no human author in whom copyright is vested.”  The photographer was clicking photos of crested black macaques in 2011, when one of the endangered monkeys hijacked his camera and snapped hundreds of pictures.  Copyright laws protect only fruits of intellectual labour that are founded in creative powers of mind. Here, neither photographer nor monkey used the creative power of mind. Clicking photo was accidental episode, and therefore, neither can claim on copyrights. (Source: Wikipida Commons)