| 6/1/2009 |
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| Board of Special Commissioners - Cases |
| Case No. 43/69 |
Decided: 04 November, 1970 |
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Raising of Additional Assessments by Revenue - discretionary powers
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Maintenance allowance in respect of appellant's wife and children had been deducted from his chargeable income. Revenue subsequently, however, issued an additional assessment taxing him for the amount previously deducted. In terms of law maintenance in respect of the wife is deductible if she is wholly maintained by him. It resulted that they had been separated and apart from the alimony received from her husband she earned income of her own. In regards to maintenance in respect of his children, it was established that it had been expressly indicated in the separation agreement that the alimony pertained exclusively to her and it was her obligation to maintain the children. Indeed it had been agreed that the amount of alimony could not be decreased in the absence of one of the children.
Appellant also based his plea on his contention that the Commissioner could only raise assessments when a person has either not been assessed or assessed at a lesser amount than that which ought to have been charged. The Board, however, noted that the law empowered the Commissioner to raise even additional assessments should it be established, at any stage, that the tax payer had not been correctly assessed even through the fault of Revenue itself. The scope of this provision is to ensure that all taxpayers without distinction pay taxes actually due.
Appellant also claimed that once the Commissioner had made use of his discretionary powers he could not, at a later stage, alter such discretion. The Board once more disagreed with appellant's contention. The Commissioner bases his discretionary decision on facts known at that particular point in time and if fresh evidence comes to light at a later stage he is bound to revise his decision accordingly.
An appeal was entered before the Court from this decision (see case no. 84).
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