Date of completion under Section 80IB(10) is the local authority's certified date even if certificate issued later; AO to re-examine.

The ruling treats the 'date of completion' for claiming deduction under Section 80IB(10) as the date certified by the competent local authority; a later physical issuance of the certificate does not defeat eligibility if the certificate or contemporaneous municipal record records a completion date before the statutory cutoff. The assessee may procure and produce such municipal/authority record, and the Assessing Officer must re-examine the claim and decide afresh in accordance with law after affording opportunity of hearing.

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Issues: Whether the assessee is entitled to deduction under Section 80IB(10) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 by treating the date of completion of the housing project as the date mentioned in a completion certificate/letter from local authorities, notwithstanding that the certificate may have been issued after 31.3.2008; and whether the matter should be remitted to the Assessing Officer for fresh decision on production of such certificate.

Analysis: The governing legal provision is Section 80IB(10) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and Explanation (ii) thereto which defines the date of completion as the date on which a completion certificate in respect of the housing project is issued by the local authorities. The Tribunal's earlier reasoning (reproduced and applied) recognises that where the local authority's certificate or contemporaneous municipal record clearly mentions a date of completion prior to 31.3.2008, the fact that the physical issuance of the certificate took place later does not by itself defeat eligibility; what is material is the date of completion as certified by the competent local authority. The tribunal therefore directs that the assessee may procure from the municipal/competent local authority a certificate or record clearly stating the date of completion and that, upon production, the Assessing Officer shall examine the document and decide the claim afresh in accordance with law, giving the assessee opportunity of hearing.

Conclusion: The assessee may produce a completion certificate/municipal record specifying the date of completion; upon receipt, the Assessing Officer shall decide the claim for deduction under Section 80IB(10) afresh in accordance with law after providing the assessee an opportunity of hearing. The present appeal is allowed for statistical purposes only.

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