2023 (4) TMI 236 - AT - Income Tax

Tribunal upholds CIT(A)'s decision on lorry hire charges disallowance under Income Tax Act

ACIT, (OSD), Ward-1 (1), Kolkata Versus Assam Kerala Roadways Pvt. Ltd.

The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision to reverse the AO's disallowance of Rs. 4,09,36,296/- as unexplained expenditure on lorry hire charges under ... Addition u/s 69C - unexplained expenditure @12% of the entire expenditure on Lorry Hire Charges - assessee is a goods carrier /transporter operating huge fleet of good carriers by hiring from the market - CIT(A) allowed the appeal of the assessee after referring to the website VAHAN, came to the conclusion that most of the vehicles which have been stated to be either motor cycles or motor cars and tractors were in fact not so but the goods carrier and only in few cases there was no information available on the website of the Ministry - HELD THAT:- CIT(A) examined the expenses claimed by the assessee comprising bills, vouchers and came to the conclusion that the order passed by the AO is just on extrapolation and on presumption basis without any verification of details/information as filed by the assessee. CIT(A) has given some example of vehicles registration status on VAHAN portal which duly explained the nature of the vehicles. We have examined the same and found no infirmity or any deficiency in the observations of Ld. CIT(A). Merit in the contention of assessee that the addition has been made as unexplained expenditure u/s 69C of the Act which is incorrect and against the provision of Act as the said explanation deals with the disallowance and addition of expenditure the source whereof is not explained by the assessee. In the present case the source is not in dispute as the assessee has duly accounted for the expenses in the books of accounts and there is no dispute as to the source of this expenditure as added u/s 69C - AO has made disallowance by extrapolation and on presumption and surmises which was rightly reversed by the Ld. CIT(A). Accordingly we uphold the order of Ld. CIT(A) by dismissing the appeal of the revenue. Issues involved:The only issue raised by the revenue is against the deletion of addition of Rs. 4,09,36,296/- as made by the AO u/s 69 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on account of unexplained expenditure @12% of the entire expenditure on Lorry Hire Charges.Summary:Issue 1: Deletion of addition of unexplained expenditure by AOThe AO disallowed Rs. 4,09,36,296/- as unexplained expenditure on lorry hire charges, based on a 12% calculation of the total expenditure. The CIT(A) reversed this decision, citing that the vehicles were registered as goods carriers on the VAHAN portal, with only a few exceptions due to data non-digitization. The CIT(A) emphasized that the AO's conclusion was based on extrapolation and lacked proper verification. The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, noting that the source of expenditure was not in dispute as it was accounted for in the books, and the disallowance under section 69C was incorrect.The AO observed discrepancies in the claimed vehicle operating and maintenance expenses by the assessee, leading to the disallowance of Rs. 4,09,36,296/- under section 69 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The AO based this disallowance on a 12% calculation of the lorry hire charges. The CIT(A) overturned this decision, highlighting that most vehicles were registered as goods carriers on the VAHAN portal, except for a few cases due to data non-digitization. The CIT(A) criticized the AO for lack of proper verification and reliance on extrapolation. The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, emphasizing that the source of expenditure was explained in the books, making the disallowance under section 69C incorrect.