2016 (3) TMI 1011 - AT - Income Tax

ITAT Kolkata rules in favor of assessee on expense disallowance and interest income understatement

The ITAT Kolkata allowed the appeal of the assessee, holding that the order of the AO was not prejudicial to the interest of revenue regarding the ... TDS u/s 194C - non tds on advertisement expenses - disallowance u/s 40(a)(ia) - revision u/s 263 - Held that:- find from the amended provision of Finance Act, 2012 that in case, assessee fails to deduct TDS from the payment of expense to the party concerned and receiver of the payment has paid tax on the amount received then assessee should not be held as guilty for default of TDS u/s 40(a)(ia) of the Act. Ld. AR submitted that a certificate from Chartered Accountant certifying that the party i.e. M/s I.S. Trading to whom the advertisement expenses were paid by assessee that the income tax on the amount received from assessee has been duly paid which is placed on page 26 and 27 of the paper book. Therefore, we are of the considered view that the observation of Ld. CIT u/s. 263 of the Act that the order is erroneous is correct observation. However, as per the provision of Sec. 263 of the Act the order of the AO should not only be erroneous but also to the interest of revenue. So in this view of the matter the order passed by Assessing Officer is not prejudicial to the interest of revenue. Regarding the claim of assessee that the printing material expense is out of the purview of TDS provision, we find that this is a transaction of purchase of printing material as evident from the bill of the party concern M/s Jyoti Enterprise which are placed at page No. 6 to 8 of the paper book. We also find that there was no contract between the assessee and the party M/s Jyoti Enterprise for attracting the provision of Sec. 194C of the Act. In our considered view, we reverse the order of Ld. CIT - Decided in favour of assessee Revision u/s 263 - addition of interest income - Held that:- CIT found the order of the AO erroneous and prejudicial to the interest of Revenue as the income of the interest was understated by the assessee by an amount of ₹ 1,30,145/-. However before us the ld. AR has submitted the reconciliation statement for the interest income and the explained that part of the interest income was pertaining to the earlier year. Therefore we reverse the order of the ld. CIT passed under section 263 of the Act.- Decided in favour of assessee Issues involved:1. Disallowance of expenses under section 40(a)(ia) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.2. Understatement of interest income in the balance-sheet.Issue No.1:The appeal was against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax-XX, Kolkata under section 263 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The assessee, a partnership firm engaged in manufacturing drugs, was found to have claimed advertisement expenses without deducting TDS and understated interest income. The CIT issued a notice under section 263, directing clarifications. The CIT disallowed the expenses under section 40(a)(ia) and directed the AO to include printing material expenses. The ITAT Kolkata considered the arguments, including the amended provisions of the Finance Act 2012, and found that the order of the AO was not prejudicial to the interest of revenue. The ITAT allowed the appeal, stating that the expenses related to printing materials were not subject to TDS.Issue No.2:The CIT found an understatement of interest income in the balance-sheet and issued a notice under section 263. The ITAT Kolkata reviewed the submissions and reconciliation statement provided by the assessee, explaining the difference in interest income. The ITAT reversed the CIT's order, concluding that the interest income was not understated, and allowed the appeal.In summary, the ITAT Kolkata allowed the appeal of the assessee, holding that the order of the AO was not prejudicial to the interest of revenue regarding the disallowance of expenses under section 40(a)(ia) and the understatement of interest income in the balance-sheet. The ITAT reversed the CIT's decision on both issues, providing detailed reasoning and analysis for each.