Revised deduction claims under Section 80HHC can be entertained on appeal; factual entitlement still requires verification.

A revised claim for higher deduction under Section 80HHC, raised by letter during assessment after expiry of the revised return period, was held entertainable. The limitation in Goetze (India) Ltd. was treated as confined to the Assessing Officer's power to accept a fresh claim otherwise than by a revised return, and not as restricting appellate authorities from considering an additional or corrected claim. A request for recomputation was distinguished from a wholly new claim. Because the factual entitlement to the higher deduction had not yet been examined, the matter was remanded for verification on merits.

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Issues: Whether the assessee's revised claim for higher deduction under Section 80HHC, made by letter during assessment proceedings after the time for filing a revised return had expired, could be entertained and examined on merits.

Analysis: The dispute concerned only the reassessment of the deduction claimed under Section 80HHC on the basis that sales had been wrongly treated as trading sales instead of manufacturing sales. The limitation in Goetze (India) Ltd. was treated as confined to the Assessing Officer's power to entertain a fresh claim otherwise than by a revised return, and not as restricting the appellate authorities' power to consider an additional or corrected claim. The Court followed the line of authority holding that appellate forums have the power to consider such claims and that a request for recomputation is not to be equated with a wholly new claim. As the factual entitlement to the higher deduction had not been examined by the Assessing Officer, the matter required factual verification.

Conclusion: The claim for higher deduction was held to be entertainable and the question of law was answered in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue, but the matter was remanded for examination of the claim on merits by the Assessing Officer.

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