Law: Income Tax Ordinance, 1979

Section: 23(1)(xviii)

Income-tax-----Income from business or profession---Expenses wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for the purpose of business or profession---Journalist incurring expenses in purchasing newspapers and periodicals to enable himself to write features in the newspaper---Whether reading of other newspapers and periodicals to be regarded as means of maintaining general qualifications and fitness of journalist to carry out business or profession or as part of performance of daily duties as journalist---Whether expenses wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in performance of journalists duties--¬Section 189(1) of the (UK) Income and Corporation Taxes Act, 1970---of. section 23(1)(xviii) of the (Pakistan) Income Tax Ordinance, (XXXI of 1979), S.23(1)(xviii)--[Smith (Inspector of Taxes) v. Abbott (1993) 2 All ER 417 reversed.]Held, (Lord Browne-Wilkinson dissenting).---The question whether money was expended `wholly exclusively, and necessarily in the performance of a journalists duties when he purchased and read newspapers and periodicals was a mixed question of fact and law which the Court was entitled to review. Applying the distinction between expenses which were deductible because they were incurred in the performance of duties and expense which were not deductible because they were incurred in order to enable the duties to be performed a journalist did not read newspapers and periodicals in the performance of his duties but in order to enable his duties to be performed.Smith (Inspector of Taxes) v. Abbott (1993) 2 All ER 417 reversed.Peter Whiteman QC, Marion Simmons and Robert Anderson (instructed by Berwin Leighton) for the Taxpayers.G. N. H. Emslie QC (of the Scottish Bar), Timothy Brennan and P.S. Hodge (of the Scottish Bar) (instructed by the Solicitor Inland Revenue, agent for the Solicitor of Inland Revenue for Scotland, Edinburgh) for the crown in the Scottish appeals.Alan Moses Q.C. Timothy Brennan and Rabinder Singh (instructed by the Solictor of Inland Revenue) for the Crown in the English appeals.JUDGMENT LORD KEITH OF KINKEL.---My Lords, for the reasons given in the speech to be delivered by my noble , and learned friend Lord…