Circular No. 263 — 1538. Additional relief to any one building in occupation of de-recognised Ruler declared

What this is

Circular No. 263 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 19 November 1979. Its subject is 1538. Additional relief to any one building in occupation of de-recognised Ruler declared as his official residence - Notification issued under sub-section (2) granting full exemption from estate duty.

This grants an exemption or a relief under a provision that allows one. Read the conditions attached: an exemption notification is construed strictly, and a condition missed is the exemption lost.

What it does

Reproduces the Central Government's direction exempting from estate duty one building that was a de-recognised Ruler's official residence. Relief under section 33(1)(i) of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 for a building in the occupation of a Ruler declared as his official residence under paragraph 13 of the Merged States (Taxation Concessions) Order, 1949 or paragraph 15 of the Part B States (Taxation Concessions) Order, 1950 had fallen away when Rulers were de-recognised. Taking the view that the circumstances of the de-recognised Rulers and their heirs called for relief, the Central Government directs under section 33(2) that no estate duty be payable on any one building belonging to and in the occupation of a Ruler as defined in article 363(2)(b) of the Constitution, which was declared his official residence under either of those paragraphs and which passes on his death.

Why it was issued

De-recognition of the Rulers of Indian States, following the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 1971, ended the section 33(1)(i) relief, and the Central Government thought relief should be restored for the building that had been the official residence.

Who it reaches

Estates of de-recognised Rulers
Heirs succeeding to a former official residence
Officers assessing estate duty on such estates

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.33	no counterpart recorded

The instrument, as the Board published it

The words below are the department’s own, reproduced from its published text. Where the department’s copy carried a publisher’s notes after the instrument, those are not reproduced.

1538. Additional relief to any one building in occupation of de-recognised Ruler declared as his official residence - Notification issued under sub-section (2) granting full exemption from estate duty
Whereas relief under clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 33 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 (34 of 1953), in respect of any one building in the occupation of a Ruler declared by the Central Government as his official residence under paragraph 13 of the Merged States (Taxation Concessions) Order, 1949, or paragraph 15 of the Part B States (Taxation Concessions) Order, 1950, had ceased to be available consequent on de-recognition of Rulers of Indian States ;
And whereas the Central Government is of opinion that the circumstances of the de-recognised Rulers and their heirs are such that relief by way of exemption from estate duty should be granted in respect of any one building in the occupation of a de-recognised Ruler, being a building which immediately before the commencement of the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 1971, was his official residence ;
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 33 of the said Act, the Central Government hereby directs that no estate duty shall be payable in respect of any one building belonging to and in occupation of a Ruler as defined in sub-clause (b) of clause (2) of article 363 of the Constitution, which —
(i) was declared by the Central Government as his official residence under paragraph 13 of the Merged States (Taxation Concessions) Order, 1949 or paragraph 15 of the Part B States (Taxation Concessions) Order, 1950; and
(ii) passes on his death.
Notification : No. GSR 461, dated 27-3-1973.

What to watch

This is a Central Government notification under section 33(2) of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, numbered GSR 461 and dated 27 March 1973; it is not a circular of the Board under the Income-tax Act.
The exemption is for one building only, and only one that was declared the official residence under paragraph 13 of the 1949 Order or paragraph 15 of the 1950 Order.
The building must belong to and be in the occupation of the Ruler and must pass on his death.
Estate duty is no longer levied on deaths after the abolition of the charge, so this bears only on estates of deaths while the Act applied.

Where you meet it

In an old estate duty assessment or a succession dispute over a palace or residence that had been a Ruler's declared official residence.

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Circular No. 443 — 1537. Additional relief to property bequeathed to educational institutions and hospitals - Notification issued under sub 13 December 1985
Notification No. GSR 83 — 1534. Additional relief to property forming part of trust created for promoting advancement of science, etc. - Notificat 6 January 1985
Circular No. 396 — 1539. Additional relief of gold, gold coin, gold ornament tendered within 6 months of the date of death of deceased as s 28 September 1984
Circular No. 381 — 1538. Additional relief to any one building in occupation of de-recognised Ruler declared as his official residence - No 1 May 1984
Circular No. 377 — 1535. Additional relief to property bequeathed to Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Fund - Notification issued under sub-sectio 21 February 1984
Circular No. 352 — 1540. Additional relief to property in respect of which gift-tax has been paid and estate duty has also been levied - No 8 December 1982

← Circular No. 264 · Circular No. 262 →

A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.