ITAT allowed the appeal and directed deletion of the impugned...

ITAT allowed the appeal and directed deletion of the impugned addition. The Tribunal held that unaccounted pre-purchase payment ("on-money") discovered on search should be assessed in the hands of co-owners pro rata according to their proprietary interests, and not wholly in one assessee's hands. The AO erred in treating the entire amount as taxable to the assessee when records and seized purchase agreements established joint ownership and the assessee admitted a 40% share. The assessee had declared and offered payment exceeding eighty percent of the on-money; absent rebuttal of co-ownership, any residual addition should have been apportioned among co-owners, hence deletion was warranted.

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