Section 56(2)(x)(b) proviso requires verified banking payment and agreement-date facts before adopting stamp duty value.

Section 56(2)(x)(b) applies where immovable property is received for inadequate consideration, but the proviso permits adoption of stamp duty value on the agreement date only if consideration was paid through prescribed banking channels on or before that date. The record showed advance payments at booking, yet the mode and timing of payment, and whether the allotment letter or booking arrangement could serve as the agreement date, were not satisfactorily verified. The matter was therefore remanded to the Assessing Officer for limited factual examination of those points, and the addition was not finally sustained.

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Issues: Whether the addition under section 56(2)(x)(b) could be sustained without verifying whether the allotment letter/booking arrangement could be treated as the agreement date and whether consideration had been paid through prescribed banking channels so as to attract the proviso permitting adoption of stamp duty value on the date of agreement.

Analysis: The provision taxes the difference between consideration and stamp duty value where immovable property is received for inadequate consideration. The proviso allows adoption of stamp duty value as on the date of agreement, but only where part or whole consideration has been paid through prescribed banking channels on or before that date. The record indicated advance payments at the time of booking, but the mode of such payments and the factual foundation for claiming the proviso benefit were not satisfactorily verified. In these circumstances, the matter required fresh factual examination rather than a summary affirmation of the addition.

Conclusion: The issue was restored to the Assessing Officer for limited verification of the mode and timing of payment and the applicability of the proviso, with the result that the assessee obtained partial relief by way of remand and the addition was not finally sustained.

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