In Brief
The Supreme Court held that cooperative societies' receipts from members—including non-occupancy charges, transfer charges, and common amenity fund charges—are exempt from income tax under the doctrine of mutuality, provided there is commonality between contributors and beneficiaries and amounts are utilised for members' common benefit. Transfer fees paid by non-members before induction are not taxable if returned if applicants are rejected; once inducted as members, the mutuality doctrine applies. The Court found the 2001 notification limiting charges applies only to housing societies, not premises societies with non-residential units. All appeals by tax authorities were dismissed; the assessee society's appeal was allowed.
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