2011 (4) TMI 1359 - AT - Income Tax

ITAT upholds CIT(A)'s decision on unclaimed dividend & charity income additions. Assessing Officer's actions deemed unjustified.

Addl. CIT, Range 2, Muzaffarnagar Versus M/s. Gulshan Mercantile Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd.

The ITAT upheld the CIT(A)'s decision to delete the addition of unclaimed dividend and charity/donation as income. The Assessing Officer's additions were ... - Issues involved: 1. Deletion of addition of unclaimed dividend 2. Deletion of addition of charity and donation Deletion of addition of unclaimed dividend: The Assessing Officer added an amount on account of unclaimed dividend not deposited in the Government account. The assessee, a cooperative society, argued that the dividend was post liability and not part of income. The CIT(A) accepted the contention, stating that the dividend was not charged to the P & L account and hence, not subject to Section 41(1). The ITAT upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, ruling that the addition was unjustified due to the nature of the dividend appropriation.Deletion of addition of charity and donation: The Assessing Officer added an amount under 'charity and donation' as income, contending it was not a genuine liability. However, the CIT(A) disagreed, noting that the society's net profits were allocated for various purposes, including charity, as per the U P Cooperative Society Act. The ITAT concurred, emphasizing that the amount shown in the balance sheet for charity was not charged to the P & L account, hence not liable to be added as income. The addition was thus deleted, affirming the CIT(A)'s decision.Separate Judgement: No separate judgment was delivered by the judges in this case.