2023 (6) TMI 882 - HC - Income Tax

Supreme Court overturns assessment order due to incorrect Email ID notification, emphasizes proper notice service

The Supreme Court set aside the assessment order under Section 143(3) r/w 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the assessment year 2021 due to notices ... Validity of the assessment order u/s 143 (3) r/w 144B - notices u/s 142 (1) by Income Tax Department have been addressed not to the Email ID which is registered with the Income Tax Department by the assessee - HELD THAT:- The contention raised on behalf of the petitioner deserves acceptance to the extent that notice ought to have been issued to the Email ID furnished at Annexure-'D' and not otherwise. The notices sent to the Email ID which is not that declared by the assessee has justifiably resulted in the assessee not having had an opportunity to respond to the notices. Thus in light of lack of opportunity to the assessee to submit its reply to the notice issued u/s 142 (1), Assessment Order as well as notice of computation sheet, Consequential Demand Notice and Penalty Notices are set aside. Issues involved: Challenge to validity of assessment order u/s 143(3) r/w 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961; Notices under Section 142(1) sent to incorrect Email ID resulting in lack of opportunity to respond.The petitioner challenged the validity of the assessment order u/s 143(3) r/w 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 19.12.2022 for the assessment year 2021, along with related documents. The main contention was that notices under Section 142(1) were sent to an Email ID different from the one registered with the Income Tax Department by the assessee. Despite personal details uploaded with the Income Tax Department showing specific Email IDs, the notices were addressed to a different Email ID, leading to the assessee not being able to respond adequately.Upon perusal of the assessment order, it was noted that notices under Section 142(1) had been issued but there was no response from the assessee. The assessment order was passed without considering the stand of the petitioner due to notices being sent to the incorrect Email ID. The Court found that the notices sent to the wrong Email ID deprived the assessee of the opportunity to reply, leading to the setting aside of the Assessment Order, computation sheet, demand notice, and penalty notices. The matter was remitted back for resuming from the stage of replying to the correct notices under Section 142(1).The Court accepted the contention that notices should have been issued to the Email ID provided by the assessee, as per the details furnished. The lack of opportunity for the assessee to respond to the notices issued under Section 142(1) led to the setting aside of various documents related to the assessment order. The case was disposed of, emphasizing the importance of providing the correct Email ID for communication purposes in such proceedings.