ITAT upheld the addition of deemed rental income where the...

ITAT upheld the addition of deemed rental income where the assessee, owning multiple house properties, failed to prove occupancy or uninhabitability of two properties; applying s. 23(4), the Tribunal confirmed that only one property qualifies as self-occupied and treated the others as deemed let-out, finding the AO's fair-rent estimation based on comparable market data (including property portal information) reasonable in the absence of reliable municipal or rental evidence. On disallowance of housing-loan interest for lack of loan sanction letters and interest certificates, ITAT remitted the issue to the AO for limited verification, granting the assessee an opportunity to produce bank certificates and loan statements and directing the AO to allow deduction as per law upon satisfactory verification.

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