Capital - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition capital

Definition :

Capital [fr. Capitalis; caput, Lat.]. The corpus of property of any description which may or may not be the source of a periodical or other return (fructus, produce or income). The word 'capital' when employed in Company Law is used in different senses. Nominal capital is the capital of a company so stated for the purposes of division into shares. It implies nothing more than that the company is possessed of money or assets of a stated value at the company's own valuation which may be, and often is, exaggerated or illusory. Working capital means the amount employable for the purposes of a company or any other undertaking or business. See ALTERATION OF CAPITAL, COMPANY, PROSPECTUS, DIRECTORS. In the Settled Land Act, 1925, capital money arising under the Act means capital money arising under the powers or provisions of that Act or Acts which it replaces, receivable for the purposes of a settlement and includes securities representing capital money. Elaborate provisions are contained in the Act, see ss. 73-82 relating to the investment and attribution of returns to capital in the case of minerals, and timber. See SETTLED LAND. In commerce, and as applied to individuals, it is understood to mean the sum of money which a merchant, banker, or trader adventures in any undertaking, or which he contributes to the common stock of a partnership.

The expression 'capital' is not defined under the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. It must, therefore, be understood in the sense in which that expression is generally understood. That means all amounts which are classified as capital in contrast to revenue must qualify for deduction subject to the limit of 8.5 per cent, provided such capital is invested by the society in its establishment as evidenced by its books of accounts at the commencement of the accounting year, Jackson Co-operative Credit Society Ltd. v. Co-operative Banks and Societies Employees Federation, (1989) 3 SCC 89: AIR 1989 SC 1398 (1399). [Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act (24 of 1961), s. 66]

Capital, treated as income, Beattie v. Secretary of State for Social Security (CA), (2001) 1 WLR 1404.