Income Tax Appeal: Leave Encashment exemption granted by ITAT Delhi, overturning AO decision.

The appellant contested the denial of exemption under Section 10(10AA)(ii) of the Income Tax Act for Leave Encashment. The AO limited the exemption to Rs. 3,00,000, adding Rs. 1,94,340 to the assessed income. The ld. CIT(A) upheld this decision, stating full exemption is for Govt. employees only. The ITAT Delhi overturned this, citing a similar case where exemption was allowed, directing the AO to grant the appellant's exemption claim. The appeal was allowed in favor of the appellant on 28/09/2016.

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Issues:
Appeal against denial of exemption u/s 10(10AA)(ii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 towards Leave Encashment.

Analysis:
1. The appellant contested the denial of exemption u/s 10(10AA)(ii) for Leave Encashment amounting to Rs. 1,94,340 as per the order of the ld. CIT(A), Hisar. The AO observed that the appellant claimed exemption on the entire Leave Encashment amount, but the AO limited it to Rs. 3,00,000 as per the Act. This led to an addition of Rs. 1,94,340 to the assessed income, totaling it to Rs. 6,00,340. The AO argued that the appellant, being an employee of a university, did not qualify as a Govt. employee under the Act, hence the exemption was not applicable.

2. The ld. CIT(A) upheld the AO's decision, stating that full exemption under Section 10(10AA) is only available to Central and State Government employees, not to employees of other entities like the appellant, who was an employee of a university. The CIT(A) concluded that the appellant's case fell under Section 10(10AA)(ii) and not Section 10(10AA)(i), hence the addition was justified.

3. The appellant relied on decisions from various ITAT benches in Delhi where similar issues were decided in favor of the assessees. The appellant presented orders from different cases supporting their claim for exemption. The ld. DR supported the lower authorities' orders.

4. The ITAT Delhi referred to a similar case and held that since the facts were identical to the case of Sh. Ram Kanwar Rana, where exemption was allowed for Leave Encashment, the impugned order was set aside. The ITAT directed the AO to allow the appellant's claim for Leave Encashment exemption.

5. Consequently, the appeal of the assessee was allowed, and the order in favor of the appellant was pronounced on 28/09/2016.

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