2020 (11) TMI 931 - AT - Income Tax

Assessee's Appeal Partially Allowed: Key Decisions on Loss Carryforward, Club Expenses, and MAT

The Tribunal partially allowed the assessee's appeal, remanding the denial of carrying forward short-term capital loss for verification, deleting the ... Denial of carry forwarding of short-term capital loss - assessee’s case is that the assessee was never heard on this aspect and was never asked to produce any material in support of their claim - HELD THAT:- Refering to submission on behalf of the assessee that given an opportunity, the assessee would cooperate with AO for verification of the claim of the assessee in respect of carry forward short term capital loss thus the assessee is entitled to an opportunity to submit the material, if any, for verification of the entitlement to carry forward short term capital loss and therefore, we set aside the impugned finding of the ld. CIT(A) and remand the matter to the file AO for verification of the claim - Decided i favour of assessee for statistical purposes. Unexplained investment - assessee has been contending before the authorities below that two items of investment in Reliance Mutual Fund was wrongly shown in the AIR received by the department and it can be an inadvertent mistake by the person providing information in AIR - HELD THAT:- Assessee file the confirmation dated 15.06.2008 from Reliance Mutual Fund to say that the assessee has not made any investment of ₹ 8.00 lacs on 02.04.2004 and ₹ 8.5 lacs on 25.08.2004. This establishes that some mistake had crept in while providing information in AIR by the person and the confirmation issued by Reliance Mutual Fund confirms the same. Since, there is no investment to the tune of ₹ 8.00 lacs and 8.5 lacs on 02.04.2004 and 25.08.2004, no addition could be made concerning the same.Allow ground No. 2 of the assessee and direct the deletion of this addition. Disallowance towards club expenses - assessee claims to have incurred legitimately and thus eligible as revenue deduction - as per AO disallowance made as Tax Auditors of the assessee company pointed out these expenses to be personal in nature - HELD THAT:- Assessee is a company and there cannot be any personal expense, and in view of the decision in the case of CIT vs. United Glass Manufacturing Company Limited [2012 (9) TMI 914 - SUPREME COURT] the club expenses of a company are allowable as revenue deduction. We, therefore, while respectfully following the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court, allow the expenses and direct the Learned Assessing Officer to delete these expenses. Disallowing the provision for bad and doubtful debt and advances and provision for deferred tax by adding it to the book profit u/s. 115JB for MAT - CIT(A) confirmed this addition by referring to the retrospective amendment to Section 115JB w.e.f. 01.04.2001 by way of Finance Act, 2008 - HELD THAT:- Though the assessee placed reliance on certain decisions like AppolloTyres Ltd. Vs. CIT [2002 (5) TMI 5 - SUPREME COURT] and HCL Comnet Systems & Services Ltd. [2008 (9) TMI 18 - SUPREME COURT] in view of retrospective amendment to section 115JB, we cannot find fault with the findings of the ld. CIT(A) in confirming these additions. Issues:1. Denial of carry forward short-term capital loss.2. Addition of unexplained investments.3. Disallowance of club expenses.4. Addition to book profit for MAT regarding provisions for bad debts and deferred tax.Denial of Carry Forward Short-term Capital Loss:The assessee challenged the denial of carrying forward short-term capital loss of Rs. 1,16,64,344, claiming they were not given an opportunity to support their claim. The Tribunal found that the assessee should be given a chance to provide material for verification. The matter was remanded to the Assessing Officer for proper examination, allowing the assessee's appeal for statistical purposes.Addition of Unexplained Investments:Regarding the addition of Rs. 16.5 lakhs towards unexplained investments, the assessee contended that the investments in Reliance Mutual Fund were erroneously reported in the AIR. Evidence from Reliance Mutual Fund confirmed the mistake, leading to the deletion of the addition by the Tribunal.Disallowance of Club Expenses:The disallowance of Rs. 3,70,696 towards club expenses was challenged by the assessee, claiming the expenses were legitimate revenue deductions. The Tribunal, following a Supreme Court decision, allowed the expenses as revenue deductions, directing the Assessing Officer to delete them.Addition to Book Profit for MAT - Provisions for Bad Debts and Deferred Tax:The Tribunal confirmed the addition of Rs. 18,18,000 for bad and doubtful debts and Rs. 4,82,73,000 for deferred tax to the book profit under Section 115JB for Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT). Despite the assessee citing precedents, the Tribunal upheld the additions due to a retrospective amendment to Section 115JB, declining to interfere with the decision.In conclusion, the Tribunal partially allowed the assessee's appeal but maintained certain additions for statistical purposes.