Deduction under section 80GGA denied where search-derived evidence of accommodation entries shifts burden to the taxpayer.

Deduction under section 80GGA for a charity donation was challenged on the basis of departmental search and survey material showing trustee admissions, seized ledgers and organised refunding of donations as accommodation entries. The Tribunal applied the principle that exemption and deduction claims require substantiation and held that credible corroborative material from lawful search shifts the onus to the taxpayer to rebut with cogent evidence; prior registration and bank payment records alone were insufficient. Outcome: the deduction was disallowed as the donation was held to be bogus and the appeal dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the deduction claimed under section 80GGA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for a donation of INR 1,00,000 to Navjeevan Charitable Trust is admissible or is to be disallowed as a bogus donation in view of statements and material seized during search proceedings on the trust.

Analysis: The Tribunal examined the documentary evidence submitted by the assessee (bank payment, donation receipt, registration/notification and Form No.58A) against the departmental material arising from a lawful search and survey on the trust, which included trustee statements admitting refunding cheque donations in cash after deducting commission and ledgers seized showing donor lists. The decision applies the principle that exemption and deduction claims must be substantiated and that, where the Department produces credible and corroborative material from search/survey indicating an organised accommodation-entry racket and admissions by the donee, the onus rests on the assessee to rebut that material with cogent evidence. The Tribunal also considered that prior registrations or payment through banking channels do not alone establish genuineness when post-donation evidence demonstrates refunds in cash and accommodation entries; coordinating precedents relied upon by the assessee were held factually distinguishable.

Conclusion: The deduction under section 80GGA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in respect of the donation of INR 1,00,000 is disallowed as the donation is held to be bogus; the assessee's appeal on this issue is dismissed.

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