2011 (12) TMI 559 - AT - Income Tax

Appellate tribunal upholds decision on Rule 46A & Section 43B, dismisses revenue appeal.

DCIT Circle-4 (1), Visakhapatnam Versus SNF (India) P. Ltd., Visakhapatnam

DCIT Circle-4 (1), Visakhapatnam Versus SNF (India) P. Ltd., Visakhapatnam - TMI Issues Involved:The appeal involves issues related to acceptance of additional evidence without opportunity to Assessing Officer u/s Rule 46A of IT Rules and deletion of disallowance u/s 43B of the Income-tax Act.Acceptance of Additional Evidence:The revenue appealed against the order of the CIT(A) for accepting additional evidence without affording any opportunity to the Assessing Officer u/s Rule 46A of IT Rules. The department alleged a violation of Rule 46A, stating that the evidence was not confronted with the assessing officer. However, the appellate tribunal found that the copies of RG 23 register were indeed filed before the assessing officer and referred to during appellate proceedings. Thus, the tribunal concluded that there was no violation of Rule 46A and dismissed the ground raised on this issue.Deletion of Disallowance u/s 43B:The dispute revolved around the disallowance made under section 43B of the Act concerning an outstanding excise duty liability. The assessee argued that the excise duty was paid before the due date by adjustment in the RG-23 register, which was not considered by the Assessing Officer. The CIT(A) examined the evidence and noted that the excise duty adjusted exceeded the outstanding liability, making any disallowance under section 43B unnecessary. The appellant also cited the Hawkins Cookers Ltd. case, where adjustment against MODVAT account was considered as payment of excise duty. The tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, stating that it was supported by the Hawkins Cookers Ltd. case and found no infirmity in the decision. Consequently, the appeal of the revenue was dismissed.