Eligibility of a political party for exemption under s.13A was...

Eligibility of a political party for exemption under s.13A was denied because it failed to substantiate statutory compliance, including timely return filing under s.139(4B), maintenance of audited books, and proper contribution reporting, and evidence showed donations were routed through bogus donors with cash returned after retaining 5-8% commission; exemption was therefore rejected. The addition of entire donations as unexplained cash credits under s.68 was held unsustainable since the receipts were identifiable as donation entries and deeming provisions could not be invoked merely because exemption was denied; the s.68 addition was deleted. However, the party's real income was held to be commission, directed to be assessed at 6% of total contributions as income from other sources under s.56(1). - ITAT