The Grand Council of The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes v Owens (HM Inspector of Taxes)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 25 November 1927 |
| Date | 25 November 1927 |
| Court | King's Bench Division |
NO. 637.-HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE (KING'S BENCH DIVISION).-
Income Tax, Schedule A-Convalescent home maintained by Friendly Society - Exemption as hospital - Income Tax Act, 1918 (8 -9 Geo. V, c. 40), Schedule A, No. VI, Rule 1 (c).
The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes is an unregistered Friendly Society whose principal objects are the relief of distressed members and their dependants; and the promotion of social intercourse and recreation. There are over two million members of whom 90 per cent. are working men. To provide a convalescent home for the use of their members the Grand Council of the Order purchased a house and land which were conveyed to trustees on trust for the Order. The purchase money was provided partly by appropriation of 1d. out of the small fee paid by each member for each attendance at his Lodge, and partly by members' voluntary contributions.
The use of the Home, which has 20 beds, is restricted to members. Admission to the Home is regulated by the Grand Council and residence at the Home is limited to one month. Two doctors and a dentist give their services free and no charge or expense is incurred by a member during residence.
The General Commissioners decided that the Grand Council was not entitled to relief from tax under Schedule A in respect of the Home.
Held, that the Home was a hospital within the meaning of Rule 1 (c) of No. VI of Schedule A.
Stated under the Statute 8 & 9 Geo. 5, Cap. 40, Section 149, by the Commissioners for the General Purposes of the Income Tax Acts for the Division of Droitwich for the opinion of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice.
At a meeting of the Commissioners for the General Purposes of the Income Tax Acts for the Division of Droitwich held at the Court House, Bromsgrove, on the 21st day of December, 1926, the Grand Council of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (hereinafter referred to as the "Grand Council") appealed against an assessment under Schedule A of the Income Tax Act, 1918, for the year ended 5th April, 1924, in the sum of £180 gross (£146 10s. net) in respect of the hereinafter mentioned premises called "Holmwood" owned and occupied by the Grand Council on the ground that the said premises which are used as a Convalescent Home are a Hospital within the meaning of Rule 1 (c) of No. VI of the said Schedule A.
1. The following facts were admitted or proved:-
(a) The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (hereinafter called "the Order") is an unregistered Friendly Society which has for its principal objects the relief of distressed members and the widows and orphans of members and the promotion of social intercourse and recreation in the Lodges.
(b) The Order comprises Minor Lodges, Grand Lodges and a Grand Council.
(c) The Minor Lodges are required to hold meetings at least once weekly. There are at the present time nearly 2000 Minor Lodges and the membership of the Order (which is confined to men) is estimated at over two million persons. A man wishing to join the Order is proposed by a Brother of the Order who vouches for his character and after being duly proposed and seconded and a short period having elapsed during which the credentials of the proposed Member are enquired into initiation takes place into a Minor Lodge. When the initiate has remained a member of the Order for 12 months and has attended 26 times in his Minor Lodge he is then entitled to participate in the full benefits of the Order.
(d) The administration of the Order is vested in Grand Lodges and a Grand Council. The Grand Lodges meet once monthly in the district to which they are allocated and each Minor Lodge sends two delegates to the Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge in turn sends one delegate to the Grand Council which is the supreme governing authority meeting once quarterly.
(e) A Brother of the Order on attending his Lodge pays a registration fee of not less than 3d. unless the means of the Brother are such as to make it impossible for this fee to be paid. Out of this fee the Minor Lodge contributes to the funds of the Order for each Member as follows:-1/2d. for the Central Benevolent Fund, 1/2d. for the Central Widows' and Orphans' Fund, 1/2d. for the Orphanage Fund and 1d. for the Fund of the Convalescent Home at Holmwood and these contributions are placed by the Grand Council in each separate fund and applied solely for the purposes for which each individual fund was established.
(f) In August, 1921...
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