Tribunal upholds exemption for local authority under section 11

The Tribunal dismissed the revenue's appeal and upheld the CIT(A)'s decision to allow the exemption under section 11 for the assessee, a local authority created by the Government of Maharashtra. The Tribunal emphasized the assessee's charitable character, as evidenced by its registration under section 12AA, and cited previous approvals by the CIT(A) and Tribunal in similar cases. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the CIT(A)'s order granting the exemption under section 11 for the assessment year 2007-08.

---

---

Issues involved: Dispute over the allowability of exemption u/s 11 of the Income Tax Act for the assessment year 2007-08.

Summary:
Issue 1: Allowability of exemption u/s 11
The appeal by the revenue challenged the CIT(A) order regarding the allowability of exemption u/s 11 for the assessment year 2007-08. The assessee, a local authority created by the Govt. of Maharashtra, applied for exemption under section 10(23C) by filing for registration under section 12AA. The AO disallowed the claim based on a previous decision that the assessee was not a valid trust. However, the CIT(A) allowed the claim, citing previous approvals by the CIT(A) and Tribunal. The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, noting that the assessee's charitable character was not in dispute as it was registered under section 12AA, and similar cases had been decided in favor of exemption under section 11. Therefore, the Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s order allowing the exemption under section 11 for the assessee.

Decision:
The Tribunal dismissed the appeal of the revenue, upholding the CIT(A)'s decision to allow the exemption u/s 11 for the assessee.

---