Tribunal allows appeals, directs deletion of disallowed deduction under Income Tax Act

The Tribunal allowed all three appeals filed by the cooperative housing society, directing the Assessing Officer to delete the disallowance of the deduction claimed under section 80P of the Income Tax Act for the assessment years 2012-13 to 2014-15. The Tribunal held that the provisions of section 80A(5) and section 80AC were not applicable to the assessee and that the Assessing Officer did not have the authority to disallow the deduction claimed under section 80P during the relevant years.

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Issues:
- Disallowance of deduction claimed under section 80P of the Income Tax Act.
- Applicability of provisions of section 80A(5) and section 80AC.
- Power of the Assessing Officer to disallow deductions under section 80P.

Analysis:
1. The appeals challenged the orders passed by the CIT(A) regarding the disallowance of deduction claimed under section 80P for the assessment years 2012-13 to 2014-15. The issue was identical in nature for all three appeals.

2. The assessee, a cooperative housing society, was aggrieved by the decision of the CIT(A) confirming the disallowance of the deduction claimed under section 80P of the Income Tax Act in all three years under consideration.

3. The returns of income for the relevant years were filed belatedly by the assessee. The initial disallowance of the deduction claimed under section 80P was based on the provisions of section 80A(5) of the Act, which the CIT(A) upheld due to the belated filing of returns.

4. The appellant argued that the provisions of section 80A(5) and section 80AC were not applicable to them as they had made a claim for deduction under section 80P in their returns. They contended that the CIT(A) was wrong in confirming the disallowance based on these provisions.

5. The appellant further argued that the Assessing Officer did not have the power to disallow the claim under section 80P during the relevant years, as the power to do so was granted only from April 1, 2021, by the Finance Act 2021. Prior to that, the Assessing Officer could only disallow deductions claimed under specific sections, not including section 80P.

6. After considering the arguments presented, the Tribunal held that the provisions of section 80A(5) and section 80AC were not applicable to the assessee as they had made a claim for deduction under section 80P. Additionally, the Tribunal noted that the Assessing Officer did not have the authority to disallow the deduction claimed under section 80P for the years under consideration.

7. Consequently, the Tribunal allowed all three appeals filed by the assessee and directed the Assessing Officer to delete the disallowance of the claim for deduction under section 80P for the relevant years.

8. The order was pronounced in the open court on 20.07.2022, setting aside the decisions of the CIT(A) and ruling in favor of the assessee in all three appeals.

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