How does Hindu Undivided Family come into existence under Hindu Law as
well as under Income-tax Act, 1961?
The concept of HUF
under Hindu law as well as Income-tax Act, 1961 is the same. As stated earlier,
HUF is purely a creature of law and cannot be created by an act of parties
(except in case of adoption and reunion). A HUF is a fluctuating body, its size
increases with birth of a male member in the family and decreases on death of a
member of the family. Females go and come into HUF on marriage. In case of a
sole male Hindu, strictly speaking, a HUF comes to existence automatically upon
his marriage. It has been held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Gowli Buddanna
v/s. CIT [(1966) 60 ITR 293 (SC)] that to constitute a joint Hindu family, it
is not necessary that there has to be more than one coparcener in the family; a
husband and wife can validly constitute a HUF.
Whether a single person can constitute HUF?
No. A single person
cannot constitute HUF. There has to be minimum two members to constitute a HUF.
Can a son being a member of HUF consisting of his father, himself and
his brothers, form an HUF consisting of himself, his wife and minor son?
Under Hindu law, there
can be a HUF within a HUF. Therefore, a son can have his own smaller HUF while
he continues to be a member of his father's HUF. In his father's HUF, he
is merely a member and in his own HUF,
he is the Karta.
What is HUF Property?
A property owned by a
HUF is HUF property. A HUF can acquire properties from various sources viz., on
partition, by way of gift, through will, accretion to the existing properties,
blending, by joint labour, etc. However, after the codification of major
aspects of Hindu law in 1956, the concept of ancestral property is considerably
diluted, as there is now a clear demarcation between individual property and
HUF property of a Hindu male. Self acquired property of a Hindu male will pass
on to his legal heirs as per the rules of succession and the legal heirs
receive the property as individual property. So also the share of the deceased
co-parcener in HUF, which otherwise devolves by survivorship to other
co-parcener goes by succession to legal heirs, which they hold as separate
property, if such co-parcener has left certain class of female relatives or a
male relative who claims through such female relative, specified in Class I of
the first schedule to Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
Whether a family that does not own any property can have the character
of Hindu joint family?
Yes, the concept of
HUF is not related to possession of any property by the family nor the
existence of such joint property is an essential pre-condition for constituting
a HUF. This is because Hindus get joint family status by birth and joint property is simply an adjunct to the joint family.
Can a coparcener blend his self-acquired property with that of HUF? Whether such blending of individual property
with that of HUF requires consent of other members of the family? Can the act of the coparcener blending
individual property into HUF be considered as revocable transfer? Is it
necessary for the HUF to have any ancestral property prior to receiving the
property from one of the coparceners?
[i] Yes,
a co-parcener can blend his self-acquired property with that of HUF by throwing
his individual or self-acquired property into family hotchpot or by impressing
such property with the character of HUF property.
[ii] No,
the act of blending does not require consent of other members of the family.
The act is an unilateral act and is a matter of individual volition. There is
no question of family either accepting it or rejecting it. Such blending does
not constitute a transfer.
[iii] No, once blending is done, it is not
revocable. There is no provision for retransfer, directly or indirectly, of the
whole or any part of the income or assets to the transferor. As such, there is
no question of blending being regarded revocable transfer for the purpose of
Income-tax Act, 1961.
[iv] No, it is not necessary for the HUF. Even an
empty hotchpot can receive and hold any property that is thrown into it by the
co-parcener.
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