Courtyard not included in built-up area: HC income tax liability

[bpagrawal]

Courtyard not included in built-up area: HC
PANAJI: The high court of Bombay at Goa has held that the area of courtyard cannot be included to calculate the built-up area of a residential unit for assessing the income tax liability of a construction firm.

The order comes as a relief to a partnership firm, whose claim of deduction amounting to 1.71 crore was not allowed by the income-tax appellate tribunal (ITAT). ITAT ordered that the built-up area should have included a courtyard that was excluded by the firm while computing the built-up area to claim deduction.

The case pertains to the interpretation of Section 80-IB (10) of the Income Tax Act. The section provides that the amount of deduction in the case of an undertaking developing and building housing projects approved before March 31, 2008, by a local authority, will be 100% of the profits from such housing project if the residential unit has a maximum built-up area of 1,500 square feet (as is applicable for Goa)
.The question before the high court was whether the area of the rear courtyard which is open to the sky and appurtenant to the residential unit is to be included to compute the built-up area as mentioned under Section 80-IB(10) of the act.
http://www.lawweb.in/2014/03/courtyard-not-included-in-built-up-area.html