2015 (11) TMI 1770 - AT - Income Tax

Tribunal allows Assessee's appeal on salary and shuttering expenses, remands issues for further consideration.

M/s ITD Cemindia JV, Versus Asst. CIT- 19 (2), Mumbai

The Tribunal allowed the Assessee's appeal for statistical purposes, addressing the issues of disallowance of reimbursement of salary and related ... TDS u/s 194C OR 192 - payments made to ITD Cementation India Ltd, toward the salary of their employee working for the joint venture - HELD THAT:- Judgment of assessee own case in respect of AY 2008-09 the issues/grounds raised in the present appeal and the assesses appeal in respect of AY 2008-09 are identical and respectfully following the judgment of coordinate bench in respect of the assessee, issue decided in favour of assessee Issues Involved:1. Violation of principles of natural justice in passing the order u/s 250 of the Act.2. Disallowance of reimbursement of salary and related expenses u/s 40(a)(ia) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.3. Disallowance of expenses on account of shuttering material as revenue expenditure.4. Rejection of claim for grant of depreciation on entire shuttering material.Analysis:Issue 1: Violation of principles of natural justiceThe appeal was filed against the order of CIT(A)-30 Mumbai for AY 2009-10. The Assessee contended that the order passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) violated the principles of natural justice. However, the ground related to this issue was not pressed by the Assessee's Authorized Representative during the hearing, and hence, it was treated as dismissed.Issue 2: Disallowance of reimbursement of salary and related expensesThe Assessing Officer disallowed reimbursement of salary and related expenses amounting to Rs. 5,67,80,664 under section 40(a)(ia) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Assessee argued that the payments were made to ITD Cementation India Ltd. for employees working on a joint venture basis, and tax deduction was not required as per the JV agreement. The Assessee provided confirmation that ITD Cementation India Ltd. did not claim expenses on the reimbursed salary amount. The Assessee relied on a previous judgment in a similar case for AY 2008-09, which was decided in favor of the Assessee. Consequently, the Tribunal allowed the appeal in favor of the Assessee for statistical purposes.Issue 3: Disallowance of expenses on shuttering materialThe CIT(A) confirmed the disallowance of Rs. 39,44,706 as revenue expenditure on account of shuttering material. However, following a similar case for AY 2008-09, the Tribunal remanded this issue back to the Assessing Officer for a decision in accordance with the directions provided in the previous appeal. Therefore, the ground related to the disallowance of expenses on shuttering material was remanded for further consideration.Issue 4: Rejection of claim for grant of depreciation on shuttering materialThe CIT(A) rejected the Assessee's claim for grant of depreciation on the entire shuttering material amounting to Rs. 5,37,25,110 instead of limiting it to Rs. 39,44,706. As this issue was linked to the disallowance of expenses on shuttering material, it was also remanded back to the Assessing Officer for a decision in line with the directions given in the previous appeal for AY 2008-09.In conclusion, the Tribunal allowed the appeal filed by the Assessee for statistical purposes, addressing the issues related to the disallowance of reimbursement of salary and related expenses, and the disallowance of expenses on shuttering material. The Tribunal remanded the issues to the Assessing Officer for further consideration based on the directions provided in a previous appeal for AY 2008-09.