ITAT held that the appellate bench erred in dismissing the...

ITAT held that the appellate bench erred in dismissing the assessee's appeal as non-maintainable under s.249(4)(b) for failure to pay advance tax, observing that advance tax liability must rest on a realistic estimate of income from known sources or prior year returns, and cannot be predicated on contested assessment additions. The CIT(A)'s order was set aside; the matter was remitted to the AO for fresh adjudication of tax liability, noting that the assessee was prevented by sufficient cause from appearing earlier. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes and the AO directed to decide afresh in accordance with law.

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