Gunn Chit Tuan CJ (Malaya):

This appeal by the National Land Finance Co-operative Society Ltd. (the taxpayer) raised the question whether the words of the amendment made by Act A471 to paragraph 33 of Schedule 9 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 (the Act) was capable of removing the exemption from tax granted to the tax payer by s. 13(1)(f)(ii) of the Income Tax Ordinance 1947 (Repealed).

The Special Commissioners of Income Tax in their Deciding Order dated 10 June 1987 found that the taxpayer is a society registered on 4 June 1960 under s. 7 of the Co-operative Societies Ordinance 1948. It was therefore exempted from payment of income tax under the said section 13(1)(f)(ii) of the Income Tax Ordinance 1947 which conferred exemption from the payment of income tax on any cooperative society registered under the law in force relating to the registration of co-operative societies. The Income Tax Act 1967 came into force on 28 September 1967 and repealed the Income Tax Ordinance 1947 and subsection 3 of section 1 of that Act stipulates that the Act shall have effect for the year of assessment 1968 and subsequent years of assessment. The exemption conferred by the Income Tax Ord