Section 10 — Apportionment of income between spouses governed by Portuguese Civil Code. Successor to s.5A of the 1961 Act.
Section 10 is in Chapter II — Basis of Charge, which runs from section 4 to section 10.
The section applies only where a husband and wife are governed by the community of property system known as "communiao dos bens" under the Portuguese Civil Code of 1860, as in force in Goa and in the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Clause (a) then forbids their income under any head from being assessed together as that of the community of property, whether treated as an association of persons or a body of individuals.
Clause (b) divides the income equally between husband and wife, but only under heads other than "Salaries". Clause (c) directs the divided halves to be included separately in each spouse's total income, with the rest of the Act applying accordingly. Clause (d) carves out salary: where either spouse has income under the head "Salaries", it goes wholly into the total income of the spouse who actually earned it.
A community of property regime pools the spouses' assets by operation of civil law, which would otherwise invite an assessment on the pooled community as a single association of persons or body of individuals. The section settles that by statute and splits the pooled income into two individual assessments. Salary is kept out of the split because personal exertion income belongs to the person who earned it, whatever the property regime says.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of non-salary income attributed to each spouse | Equal division between husband and wife | Applies to income under each head of income other than "Salaries" | Clause (b) |
| Share of salary income attributed | The whole of it to one spouse | Included in the total income of the spouse who has actually earned it, not divided | Clause (d) |
Two assessments follow, not one, and the division is not uniform across the return: house property, business, capital gains and other-sources income is halved, while salary stays wholly with the earner. Because clause (c) applies the remaining provisions of the Act after the division, each spouse computes deductions, thresholds and rates on his or her own half. The gateway is the property regime, not residence: a couple living in Goa who are not governed by the community of property system falls outside the section entirely.
A husband and wife in Goa are governed by the community of property system. For the tax year the community earns rent of Rs. 6 lakh and interest of Rs. 2 lakh, and the husband draws a salary of Rs. 12 lakh. Under clause (b) the rent and interest are divided equally, so Rs. 4 lakh goes into each spouse's total income. Under clause (d) the entire salary of Rs. 12 lakh is included in the husband's total income alone, giving him Rs. 16 lakh and the wife Rs. 4 lakh.
In the two spouses' own returns, where the same non-salary income is reported half and half, and in any proposal by the Assessing Officer to assess the community of property as a single association of persons or body of individuals.
their income under any head of income shall not be assessed together as that of such community of property
that income shall be included in the total income of the spouse who has actually earned it
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.
See the circulars index.