76. Assessment of partnership income

Official English translation. The Sinhala text prevails. Open the official Sinhala text, official PDF on documents.gov.lk

(1)

Where a trade, business, profession or vocation is carried on or exercised by two or more persons in partnership, the provisions of the following subsections shall apply.

(2)

The divisible profit or loss of a partnership for any year of assessment shall be the profit or loss of the partnership from any trade, business, profession or vocation carried on or exercised by such partnership during that year of assessment, ascertained in accordance with the provisions of this Act, relating to the ascertainment of profits and income of a person, after deducting from the total of such profit or adding to the total of such loss, as the case may be, the amount of any interest, annuity, ground rent or royalty (except where it is payable by a person out of Sri Lanka) payable by the partnership:

Provided that, in ascertaining the profit or loss of the partnership, nothing shall be deducted for salaries or other remuneration of partners or for interest on partner’s capital, but such sums shall be taken into account in apportioning among the partners the divisible profit or loss.

(3)

A Deputy Commissioner may give notice in writing to the precedent partner of a partnership requiring him to furnish within the time specified in such notice a return, showing–

(a)

the profits or losses of the partnership from any trade, business, profession or vocation carried on or exercised by such partnership during any year of assessment ascertained in accordance with the provisions of this Act relating to the ascertainment of profits and income of a person, and showing also any interest, annuity, ground rent or royalty payable by such partnership in respect of such trade, business, profession or vocation for that year of assessment;

(b)

any other income of the partnership for that year of assessment; and

(c)

the names and addresses of all the partners and the apportionment among them of the whole of the divisible profit or loss and other income in accordance with their shares in the partnership during the period in which such profit or loss or income arose, taking into account in such apportionment the salaries and other remuneration of partners and any interest on partners’ capital.

Where no active partner is resident in Sri Lanka, the return shall be furnished by the agent in Sri Lanka of the partnership.

(4)

The precedent partner of a partnership or where no active partner is resident in Sri Lanka the agent in Sri Lanka of such partnership shall, in respect of any year of assessment, issue to each partner of that partnership on or before the thirty first day of July, October and January of that year of assessment and the thirtieth day of April immediately succeeding the end of that year of assessment, a notice in such form as may be specified by the Commissioner-General specifying each partner’s share of the divisible profit or loss and other income of the partnership for that year of assessment, taking into account any salary and other remuneration of that partner and any interest on the partner’s capital:

Provided that the liability of, or duty imposed on, any partner of such partnership by or under any of the provisions of this Act, shall not be affected by reason of the fact that no notice under this subsection was issued to him by the precedent partner or the agent of that partnership.

(5)

The statutory income of any partner from a partnership shall be computed in accordance with the provisions of section 28 by treating his share of the divisible profit of the partnership as though it were the profits of a trade, business, profession or vocation carried on or exercised by him and his share of other income as though it accrued to him solely and the share of any partner of a divisible loss shall be treated as a loss incurred by him within the meaning of section 32:

Provided that where no return has been made as required by subsection (3) or a return made under that subsection has not been accepted, the Assessor may estimate the statutory income of any partner, from the partnership or the share of any partner of any divisible loss of the partnership to the best of his judgement:

Provided further that where the Assessor is of the opinion that the whole or a part of the divisible profit of the partnership has been appropriated by a partner, the Assessor may include in that partner’s share of the divisible profits of the partnership, the amount appropriated by that partner and the statutory income of such partner shall be computed accordingly.

(6)

The income of any non-resident partner or partners from the partnership shall be assessable in the name of the partnership or of any resident partner or of any agent in Sri

Lanka of the non-resident partner or of the partnership, and the income tax charged thereon shall be recoverable in the manner provided in Chapter XXVI, out of the assets of the partnership, or from any partner, or from any such agent.

Read on from s 77