Supreme Court: On the question relating to assessment of the taxable income of a Co-operative Society engaged in the business of production of sugarcane and sale thereof, the 3-judge bench Dr. AK Sikri, SA Nazeer and MR Shah, JJ said that the entire amount of difference between the Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) and State Advisory Price (SAP) per se cannot be said to be an appropriation of profit.
The Court noticed that to the extent of the component of profit which will be a part of the final determination of the SAP and/or the final price/additional purchase price fixed under Clause 5A of the Sugarcane Control Order, 1966 would certainly be and/or said to be an appropriation of profit.
It further said:
“only that part/component of profit, while determining the final price worked out/SAP/additional purchase price would be and/or can be said to be an appropriation of profit and for that an exercise is to be done by the assessing officer by calling upon the assessee to produce the statement of accounts, balance sheet and the material supplied to the State Government for the purpose of deciding/fixing the final price/additional purchase price/SAP under Clause 5A of the Control Order, 1966.”
Mechanism of determining additional purchase price under Clause 5A
- different prices may be fixed for different areas or different qualities or varieties of sugarcane. As per sub-clause 2 of Clause 3, no person shall sell or agree to sell sugarcane to a producer of sugar or his agent, and no such producer or agent shall purchase or agree to purchase sugarcane, at a price lower than that fixed under sub-clause 1 of Clause 3.
- Clause 5A of the Control Order was inserted in the year 1974 on the basis of the recommendations made by the Bhargava Commission. The clause provides for an additional price to be paid for sugarcane purchased on or after 01.10.1974. Where a producer of sugar or his agent purchases 18 sugarcane, from a sugarcane grower during each sugar year, he shall, in addition to the minimum sugarcane price fixed under Clause 3, pay to the sugarcane grower an additional price, if found due in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule annexed to the Control Order, 1966.
- Bhargava Commission had recommended payment of additional price at the end of the season on 50:50 profit sharing basis between growers and factories, to be worked out in accordance with Second Schedule to the Control Order, 1966.
- The additional price is fixed/determined under Clause 5A at the end of the season and as per Second Schedule to the Control Order, 1966. Therefore, at the time when the additional purchase price is determined/fixed under Clause 5A, the accounts are settled, and the particulars are provided by the concerned cooperative society what will be the expenditure; what can be the profit etc.
- So far as the SMP determined under Clause 3 of the Control Order, 1966 by the Central Government is concerned, it is at the beginning of the season and while determining/fixing the SMP by the Central Government, the afore-stated things are required to be considered. Therefore, the difference of amount between the SMP determined under Clause 3 and the SAP/additional purchase price determined under Clause 5A has an element of profit and/or one of the components would be the profit.
The Court, hence, said:
“the assessing officer will have to take into account the manner in which the business works, the modalities and manner in which SAP/additional purchase price/final price are decided and to determine what amount would form part of the profit and after undertaking such an exercise whatever is the profit component is to be considered as sharing of profit/distribution of profit and the rest of the amount is to be considered as deductible as expenditure.”
[CIT Bombay v. Tasgaon Taluka SSK Ltd., 2019 SCC OnLine SC 318, decided on 05.03.2019]