2013 (7) TMI 1057 - AT - Income Tax

Labor expenses disallowance deleted under sec.143(3) r.w.s.147 for AY 2007-08. Revenue's appeal dismissed.

The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision to delete the disallowance of labor expenses under sec.143(3) r.w.s.147 of the I.T. Act, 1961 for the assessment ... - Issues involved: Appeal by Revenue against order of CIT(A)-I, Rajkot for assessment year 2007-08 regarding disallowance of labour expenses u/s.143(3) r.w.s.147 of the I.T. Act, 1961.Summary:The Revenue appealed against the CIT(A)'s order for the assessment year 2007-08, where the AO disallowed labour expenses of &8377; 2,10,94,243/- u/s.143(3) r.w.s.147 of the I.T. Act, 1961. The AO's reasoning was based on non-deduction of tax at source as reported in the Tax Audit report. However, the CIT(A) deleted the addition citing precedents and legal provisions. The Revenue contended that tax should have been deducted as payments were made through a representative, while the Assessee argued that payments were below the threshold for TDS deduction and relied on relevant case laws.The CIT(A) deleted the addition of &8377; 2,10,94,243/- based on findings that payments were made directly to labourers through their representative, and single payments did not exceed &8377; 20,000. The Assessee's counsel referenced judgments supporting non-applicability of sec.40(a)(ia) in such cases. The Revenue argued against the CIT(A)'s decision, citing a recent judgment by the Gujarat High Court.After considering arguments from both sides and reviewing lower authorities' orders, the Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision to delete the disallowance. Despite the change in legal interpretation regarding sec.40(a)(ia), the Tribunal found in favor of the Assessee due to lack of evidence disproving the factual findings of the CIT(A). The appeal by the Revenue was dismissed based on the precedents and factual circumstances presented.