2. WHAT IS HUF?
It is obvious that a non-Hindu family cannot get this status.
So, A Parsi, Muslim or Christian cannot create a HUF.
So, what is a HUF?
The term 'Hindu Undivided Family' has not been defined
under the Income Tax Act. It is defined under the Hindu Law
as a family that consists of all persons lineally descended from
a common ancestor, including wives and unmarried
daughters.
This means that a membership into a HUF does not come from
a contract but from status under hindu law.
A HUF cannot be formed by a group of people who do not
constitute a family; lineal descendents with a common
ancestor is a must.
Even though Jain and Sikh families are not governed by the
Hindu law, they can still be treated as a HUF.
3. DAYABHAGA AND MITAKSHARA
SCHOOL OF LAW
Under the Dayabhaga system,the father is the sole
owner and the exclusive possessor of the joint family
property. No member can enforce the partition of the
HUF so long as the father lives.
But the Mitakshara law stipulates that the property
vests in the HUF itself and not in any individual
member of the family and therefore can be partitioned
within the lifetime of the father.
The Dayabhaga law is prevalent in West Bengal and
Assam.
Hindus in the rest of the country are governed by the
Mitakshara law.
4. FORMATION OF HUF
The most frequently asked question about HUF
is: How does it come into being? To form an
HUF, One has to do is Get Married. The HUF
gets created as soon as a person complete the
seven (or four,whatever) circles round the holy
fire and become husband and Wife.
There have to be a minimum of two people to
constitute a family. The husband and wife
together make up a family. They don't have to
wait till they have a baby to constitute their HUF
5. CAN AN UNMARRIED FORM HUF?
No, an unmarried cannot form a HUF of which he
seeks to be the Karta himself. He can very well
be the member of the HUF of his father or
grandfather, but to create his own HUF he has to
wait till he gets married.
6. A HUF CONSISTS OF:
Karta
The karta has to be the oldest male in the family. If he
passes away, his wife cannot become the karta. His eldest
son will take his place. If he chooses not to, he can give up
his right and the next son in line can take his place.
Coparceners
This is what all the male members are referred to as.
A Hindu coparcenary includes the sons, grandsons and
great-grandsons of the holder of the joint family property.
By virtue of their birth, they acquire an interest in the
property.
Members
The female members are simply called members
7. DAUGHTER CAN ACT AS
COPARCENER
On 9th September 2005, the Hindu
Succession Act, 1956 was amended to provide
that
a daughter too could be a coparcener i.e. joint
heir,like her brother to the joint family's assets and
she too could enforce the partition of the family
property to claim her individual share.
She continues to be the coparcener in her
father's HUF even after she gets married and
forms another HUF with her husband.
8. Can there be an all-female HUF?
Yes, there can be. Where a couple has only a
daughter—-and the husband passes away,the
mother-daughter duo can continue the HUF
(although a problem may arise after she gets
married and becomes a member of her husband's
HUF). It has been held by the Allahabad High
Court in CIT v. Sarwan Kumar 13 ITR 361 (All)
that there can be an HUF consisting of female
members.
Can a female be the Karta? The answer can't
be No in the light of the amendment in the Hindu
succession Act in 2005.An unmarried daughter,
in the unfortunate event of her father passing
away, will become the Karta of the HUF if she
has no brother.
9. Benefits of HUF
Under the Income Tax Act, a HUF is treated as a
separate entity for the purpose of assessment.
However, the income of a joint Hindu family can be
assessed as the income of a HUF Hindu only if the
following two conditions are satisfied:
There should be a coparcenary. There should
be joint family ancestral property. Other
investments too can take place under the broad head
of HUF.
For instance, a HUF can open a bank account in its
name.
A demat account to buy shares can also be opened.
Even post office deposits and a Public Provident
Fund account can be opened in its name.
10. WHICH INCOME IS REGARDED AS
HUF INCOME?
Since the HUF is a separate entity, it can earn
income from all the above except income from
salary.
All income that arises on the investment of the
HUF's funds and utilisation of its assets is
regarded as income and is separately assessed
and taxed.
11. CAPITAL FOR HUF
A member of the HUF throwing his money into
the common pool, or to use that overused cliché'
the family hotchpot, is out of the question,
thanks to Section 64(2) which would tax the
income earned by the HUF on that money in the
individual member's hands only but now this has
been amended by finance bill 2012 and now
clubbing will not apply to these type of transfer.
Strangers can make gifts but only up to Rs 50000
(Section 56).
12. A way-out is to receive gifts from members of bigger
HUFs, who though your relatives, aren't members of
your smaller HUF.
A father may make a gift of money to his son's newly-
created HUF, clearly specifying in the Gift Deed that
the gift is to his son's smaller HUF and not to the son
himself. This will keep both Section 64(2)and Section
56(2) at bay.
After the HUF has a nucleus of its own and gets
going, care has to be taken to keep the HUF's affairs
completely distinct from the individual members'
affairs.
Some other people, who aren't members ofthe HUF
but are relatives in terms of Section 56(2) can also be
found out.
13. HOW IS IT TAXED ?
Though the HUF is taxed as separate entity, the
tax slab which is applicable to an individual is
applicable here too.
It also enjoys the Rs 1,00,000 deduction under
Section 80C.
All the income tax slabs and deductions and
exemptions available to individuals are also
available to the HUF.
14. CAN IT BE PARTITIONED?
Yes, the HUF can be partitioned.
This is actually a division of property where the
share of each member is determined.
Any coparcener can enforce the partition of the
HUF and then the share will be divided between:
~ All coparceners
~ A son in the womb of his mother at the time of
partition
~ Mother (gets an equal share if there is a
partition between the sons and her husband has
passed away)
~ Wife (gets a share equal to that of a son at the
time of partition between father and sons)
Income tax act does not recognize partial
partition. So there should be complete partition
of HUF.
16. HUF or Hindu Undivided Family
is defined under the Hindu Law
as a family that consists of all
persons lineally descended
from a common ancestor,
including wives and unmarried
daughters.
What is
HUF
17. The legal business which
is carried by them
known as joint
Hindu family
business
18. HUF Consists of
Karta of a HUF is the senior most male member of the
family and in financial terms he can also be called
manager of the family
All male adults in the family are called Co-Parceners
Others Member:
all female members of the family are called Members
19. Karta
1.Karta is the seniormost male memberof the
family
2.Only the Karta has the right to manage the
property and business of the HUF.
3. Karta can enterinto contract on behalf of the
HUFand bind all the members to the extent of
theirshare in the property/business
4. If the coparceners so desire, all the coparceners
and Karta may authorize any one ormore adult
20. Can a female be the Karta?
The answer can't be No in the light of the
amendment in the HS Act in 2005.An
unmarried daughter, in the unfortunate event
of her father passing away, will become the
Karta of the HUF if she has no brother.
21. Restriction on themembership of woman
Accounting to law
Mitakshara law ========= woman cannot
Dayabhag law ======== *
Hindu secession act 1956 ==== after death of her
husband
22. Documents required for opening
HUF account:-
HUF will have a unique PAN card; this PAN card along with the PAN of Karta
should be produced.
A declaration form will be provided where every member has to make a
signature stating the name of Karta and declare.
They are the only members of HUF.
Karta to have sole authority over HUF account
Every transaction on behalf of HUF account, made by each member of the
family is governed by Karta.
Residential proof of Karta
Identification proof of Karta
23. There are a few features of HUF account that makes itThere are a few features of HUF account that makes it
different from regular saving bank accounts.different from regular saving bank accounts.
•Every member of the family can deposit their incomeEvery member of the family can deposit their income
in the common corpusin the common corpus
•Single person’s authority while participation fromSingle person’s authority while participation from
entire familyentire family
•Tax benefits on deposits under various sectionsTax benefits on deposits under various sections
•Corpus can be divided only on agreement of everyCorpus can be divided only on agreement of every
coparcener of the familycoparcener of the family
