Cooperative Society Wins Appeal: ITAT Mumbai Grants Deduction Under Income Tax Section 80P(2)(d) for 2018-19.

The ITAT Mumbai allowed the appeal by the assessee, a cooperative society, against the National Faceless Appeal Centre's order denying deduction u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Income-tax Act for A.Y. 2018-19. The ITAT directed the Assessing Officer to allow the deduction, referencing the previous year's unchallenged favorable decision.

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Issues: Appeal against order denying deduction u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for A.Y. 2018-19.

Summary:
The appeal was filed by the assessee against the order of the National Faceless Appeal Centre, Delhi, denying the claim of deduction u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for the assessment year 2018-19. The Assessing Officer had disallowed the claim stating that the interest received from investments with the cooperative bank was not eligible for deduction under the said section. The assessee's contention was that a similar claim was allowed in the previous assessment year 2017-18 by the Ld. CIT(A) and as the revenue did not appeal against that decision, the issue had attained finality. The ITAT Mumbai, after considering the orders of the authorities below and the previous year's decision, directed the Assessing Officer to allow the deduction under section 80P(2)(d) for the current assessment year as well. Consequently, the appeal filed by the assessee was allowed.

The ITAT Mumbai, comprising Shri Narendra Kumar Billaiya and Shri Sunil Kumar Singh, heard the appeal filed by the assessee against the order of the National Faceless Appeal Centre, Delhi, denying the claim of deduction u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for the assessment year 2018-19. The assessee, a cooperative society, had declared total income and claimed the entire income as deduction under the said section. However, the Assessing Officer disallowed the claim, stating that the interest received from investments with the cooperative bank was not eligible for deduction under section 80P(2)(d) of the Act.

The assessee had previously carried the matter before the Ld. CIT(A) but without success. During the appeal before the ITAT, the counsel for the assessee highlighted that in the previous assessment year 2017-18, a similar claim was denied by the Assessing Officer but allowed by the Ld. CIT(A), and the revenue did not appeal against that decision, leading to the issue attaining finality. The ITAT, after careful consideration of the facts, previous year's decision, and various judicial decisions, found no reason to disallow the deduction for the current assessment year. Therefore, the ITAT directed the Assessing Officer to allow the claim of deduction under section 80P(2)(d) of the Act for the current assessment year, resulting in the appeal filed by the assessee being allowed.

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