Exp. incurred by solicitor on medical treatment of his eyes is personal expense; disallowable

Exp. incurred by solicitor on medical treatment of his eyes is personal expense; disallowable

Facts:

a) The assessee was a solicitor by profession. He incurred an expenditure in connection with a pre-operation investigation of his eyes. He claimed deduction of this expenditure under section 37(1).

b) The Assessing Officer (‘AO’) disallowed said claim on ground that it was personal expenditure.The CIT(A) upheld order of AO.The Tribunal concurred with findings of the AO and the CIT (A).

The High Court held as under:

1) In the present case no evidence has been brought on record to establish that in the absence of investigation and treatment, the assessee would be handicapped in discharging his obligation as a Solicitor/Advocate.

2) We have a couple of visually challenged Advocates who are very competent in discharging their duties. We may also make reference to the late Mr. Sadhan Gupta who passed away recently and though visually challenged was as such appointed as Additional Advocate General of West Bengal in 1978 and the Advocate General in 1986. If the submission of the applicant is taken to its logical conclusion, then each and every expense incurred on daily living and food would be allowable as expenditure under Section 37.

3) The submission of assessee that eyes are required to be exclusively used for the purpose of profession, cannot be accepted. Eyeis an important organ of the human body and is essential for the efficient survival of a human being. Eyes are thus essential not only for the purpose of business or profession but for purposes other than these which are so many.

4) The impugned expenditure was personal in nature and the benefit of such expenditure in the profession or business was only consequential to the personal expenses. Therefore, it was not an expenditure which could be said to be incurred wholly or exclusively for the purpose of business. - DHIMANT HIRALAL THAKAR v. CIT [2015] 64taxmann.com 177 (Bombay)