2017 (5) TMI 61 - AT - Income Tax

Tribunal decision on assessment orders under section 153A: disallowed expenses, procedural issues, and evidence compliance emphasized.

The Tribunal upheld the assessment orders completed under section 153A, disallowed land development expenses were sent back to the AO for re-examination, ... Assessment order completed under section 153A - Held that:- According to section 153A(1)(b) of the Act, in case of a person where a search is initiated under section 132 of the Act after 31st of May, 2003, the Assessing Officer shall assess or reassess the total income of six assessment years immediately preceding assessment year relevant to the previous year in which such searches is conducted. Since in the case of the assessee, second search was conducted on 25/08/2006, the relevant six assessment years to be assessed are from assessment year 2000-01 to 2006-07. Since the year under consideration is well within the period to be considered for assessment or reassessment, corresponding to the second search action dated 25/08/2006, the Assessing Officer has rightly completed assessment under section 153A r.w.s 143(3) of the Act after taking prior approval of competent authority, and thus, in our opinion, there is no error in the provisions of the Act under which assessment is framed Addition of expenses incurred on guest house for the purpose of business of the company - Held that:- the appellant has not discharged the onus cast on him by the provisions of Section 37(1) of the Act. No submissions/evidence is filed to rebut the presumption u/s 132(4A) of the Act regarding the expenditure mentioned in the documents seized during the search. In view of totality of facts and circumstances, the addition made by the Assessing Officer is sustained Disallowance of land development expenses - Held that:- We find that the assessee even did not furnish confirmation letters from the alleged contactors to establish the services rendered by them. This was the basic requirement, which the assessee was required to fulfill to discharge his onus particularly in the circumstances when many persons alleged to be contactors have admitted of not carrying out any contract work for the assessee. In the circumstances, we feel it appropriate to restore the issue of disallowance of land development expenses to the file of the Assessing Officer for examining afresh and decide after carrying out necessary Inquiries as deemed fit. It is needless to mention that assessee shall be afforded sufficient opportunity of hearing. Accordingly, the grounds of appeal raised by the Revenue are allowed for statistical purpose. Issues Involved:1. Validity of assessment orders under section 153A.2. Disallowance of land development expenses.3. Disallowance of brokerage and commission expenses.4. Addition due to steep decline in net profit.5. Procedural issues regarding the admission of additional evidence under Rule 46A.6. Interest liability and penalty proceedings.Issue-wise Detailed Analysis:1. Validity of Assessment Orders under Section 153A:The assessee challenged the legality of the assessment orders completed under section 153A of the Income Tax Act. The Tribunal found that the Assessing Officer (AO) had rightly completed the assessment under section 153A read with section 143(3) after taking prior approval from the competent authority. Since the second search was conducted on 25/08/2006, the relevant six assessment years to be assessed were from AY 2000-01 to 2006-07. Therefore, the AO's action was upheld, and the ground was dismissed.2. Disallowance of Land Development Expenses:The AO disallowed land development expenses, citing that the contractors were not found at the given addresses and the expenses were not verifiable. The CIT(A) deleted the disallowance, stating that no incriminating documents were found during the search to indicate that the expenses were bogus. The Tribunal restored the issue to the AO for fresh examination, directing the assessee to provide complete addresses and other requisite details of the parties to verify the genuineness of the expenses.3. Disallowance of Brokerage and Commission Expenses:The AO disallowed brokerage and commission expenses due to incomplete addresses and lack of PAN details of the parties. The CIT(A) confirmed the disallowance for parties where details were not provided but deleted the rest. The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision for the sustained disallowances but restored the issue of the remaining disallowances to the AO for fresh examination, emphasizing the need for the assessee to provide complete details and evidence of services rendered.4. Addition Due to Steep Decline in Net Profit:The AO made an ad-hoc addition of Rs. 10 crores due to a steep decline in net profit compared to previous years. The CIT(A) deleted the addition, stating that the AO had not brought any evidence to prove that the expenses were bogus or inadmissible. The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, agreeing that no trading addition could be made unless defects were pointed out in the books of accounts or the method of accounting.5. Procedural Issues Regarding the Admission of Additional Evidence under Rule 46A:The Revenue contended that the CIT(A) did not follow the procedure under Rule 46A while admitting additional evidence. The Tribunal restored the issues related to additional evidence to the AO for fresh examination, emphasizing compliance with Rule 46A as per the decision in Manish Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. The AO was directed to verify the additional evidence and decide the issues afresh.6. Interest Liability and Penalty Proceedings:The assessee challenged the liability to pay interest and the initiation of penalty proceedings. The Tribunal held that charging of interest is consequential and did not require specific adjudication. Regarding penalty proceedings, the Tribunal did not find any specific reason to interfere with the CIT(A)'s decision and dismissed the ground.Conclusion:The Tribunal restored several issues to the AO for fresh examination, emphasizing the need for the assessee to provide complete details and evidence. The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decisions where disallowances were sustained based on incomplete details provided by the assessee and deleted the ad-hoc trading addition made by the AO. The procedural compliance under Rule 46A was emphasized for admitting additional evidence.