Housing project deduction under Section 80-IB(10) upheld where statutory conditions were met and no real revenue prejudice was shown

Section 80-IB(10) deduction for a housing project was upheld where the project had been approved before 31 March 2007 and completion was evidenced within the statutory period. The Court accepted that the benefit could be claimed in any one of the permissible years during construction up to completion, and treated the objection on the precise assessment year of claim as purely technical because the deduction was claimed only once and no real prejudice to the Revenue was shown. The assessee was therefore entitled to the deduction, and the Tribunal's grant of relief was sustained.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to deduction under Section 80-IB(10) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for the relevant assessment year where the housing project was approved before 31 March 2007 and the completion certificate was issued on 12 May 2007.

Analysis: Section 80-IB(10) allows deduction for profits derived from approved housing projects if construction is commenced and completed within the stipulated period. The project in question had been approved on 6 May 2004 and the completion certificate was issued within the statutory time frame. The deduction was claimed only once, and the Court accepted the Revenue's concession that the benefit could be availed in any one of the years during which construction was underway up to the year of completion. The timing dispute was treated as having no practical prejudice to the Revenue because the statutory benefit was otherwise satisfied.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the deduction, and the questions were answered in the negative and in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed, and the Tribunal's grant of deduction was upheld on the basis that the statutory conditions for the housing project deduction were satisfied.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory conditions for deduction on a housing project are satisfied and the deduction is claimed only once within the permissible period, a purely technical objection as to the precise assessment year of claim will not defeat the deduction if no real prejudice to the Revenue is shown.

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