A partner in a law firm travels abroad with their spouse to attend a professional conference and claims the entire travel cost as business expenditure. Under Section 37(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, what is deductible?
Need a hint?
"Wholly and exclusively" — whose travel actually serves the profession?
Section 37(1) allows expenditure laid out wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business or profession, and expressly excludes personal expenses. The partner’s own conference travel qualifies; the spouse’s travel is prima facie personal and is disallowed unless the assessee shows the spouse’s presence itself served a business purpose — a fact-specific burden courts have only rarely found discharged.