2020 (7) TMI 300 - AT - Income Tax

Assessee's appeal allowed due to incorrect reasons for assessment reopening & lack of substantiation in Section 68 addition.

The appeal of the assessee was allowed as the reasons for reopening the assessment were found to be incorrect. The addition made under Section 68 was ... Reopening u/s 148 - Unexplained cash credit u/s 68 - HELD THAT:- Reasons recorded by the AO that the assessee company received share capital from the entry operator proved to be incorrect based on the facts. Attributing the entry of ₹ 7,00,000 /- to the share capital of the company by the AO to the increased share capital of ₹ 99,00,000 /- found to be incorrect based on the details of the share capital received by the company from the five entities. We find that the information available with the Assessing Officer pertains to receipt of ₹ 7,00,000/- from two entities namely, Manimala and Virgin Capital whereas the AO made addition of ₹ 14,00,000/- u/ s 68 of the Act. AO has not mentioned whether this ₹ 14,00, 000/- is on account of share capital or loans or expenses. No details of these entries have been given. The AO has failed to examine whether the amount of ₹ 14,00, 000/- credited in the books of the assessee or not, if so under what head. The AO has made addition of ₹ 7, 00,000/- received by M/s Jindal Dal Mills Pvt. Ltd. in the hands of the assessee company. The addition has to be rightly made in the hands of M/s Jindal Dal Mills Pvt. Ltd. instead of the assessee company. It was also not proved that the assessee company whose name figured in the diary entries and shares of an equivalent amounts have been allotted to the common Directors, Sh. Anil Kumar Jindal. Addition has been made without specifying as to the nature of the amounts and also without examining the credits in the books of the assessee, we hereby allow the appeal of the assessee on grounds of Section 148 and Section 68 - Decided in favour of assessee. Issues Involved:1. Reopening under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.2. Addition under Section 68 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.Issue-wise Detailed Analysis:1. Reopening under Section 148:The assessee company filed its Return of Income for A.Y. 2009-10 on 29.09.2009 declaring an income of Rs. 3,94,360/-. The return was processed under Section 143(1) without any assessment under Section 143(3). Information received from the Investigation Wing indicated that the assessee was a beneficiary of accommodation entries provided by entities controlled by Jain Brothers. The information was based on a search and seizure operation conducted on 14/09/2010, which revealed that the assessee had received entries from dummy companies.The AO analyzed the information and concluded that the assessee had received Rs. 7,00,000/- from two entities, Manimala Delhi Pro Pvt. Ltd. and Virgin Capital Services Pvt. Ltd., which were controlled by Jain Brothers. The AO believed that the share capital of Rs. 99,00,000/- received by the assessee was bogus and only an entry from the entry operator. Based on this belief, the AO reopened the assessment under Section 147/148.2. Addition under Section 68:The AO made an addition of Rs. 14,00,000/- under Section 68, attributing it to the share capital received by the assessee. However, the detailed examination revealed that the share capital received by the assessee was from five entities, namely Sushil Kumar Jindal HUF (Rs. 42,00,000/-), Anil Kumar Jindal HUF (Rs. 37,00,000/-), Anil Kumar Jindal (Rs. 14,00,000/-), Bhaibhav Jindal (Rs. 4,00,000/-), and Ekta Jindal (Rs. 2,00,000/-).The AO's analysis was found to be incorrect as the addition of Rs. 14,00,000/- was not substantiated with proper details. The AO failed to examine whether the amount was credited in the books of the assessee, and if so, under what head. The AO also incorrectly made an addition of Rs. 7,00,000/- received by M/s Jindal Dal Mills Pvt. Ltd. in the hands of the assessee company.The CIT(A) confirmed the addition, stating that the assessee failed to prove the identity, creditworthiness, and genuineness of the transaction. However, this was factually incorrect as all the share applicants were from the same family and assessed to tax, whose identity and existence were never in dispute.Conclusion:Based on the detailed examination, the reasons recorded by the AO for reopening the assessment were proved incorrect. The addition made under Section 68 was without specifying the nature of the amounts and without examining the credits in the books of the assessee. Therefore, the appeal of the assessee was allowed on grounds of Section 148 and Section 68 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.Result:The appeal of the assessee was allowed. Order pronounced in the Open Court on 06/05/2020.