Where books of account were unavailable and not accepted, the...

Where books of account were unavailable and not accepted, the tribunal treated the presumptive scheme under section 44AE as a reasonable guiding yardstick for estimating income from transport business though the statutory ceiling did not strictly apply; it directed recomputation of income by applying the section 44AE rates as a benchmark. The tribunal held that consequential additions and disallowances linked to business records-earlier made under allegations of unexplained cash credits, sundry creditors/debtors and tax withholding defaults-are subsumed in the presumptive estimate and must be deleted unless Revenue proves they are independent unexplained income. Capital-gains claim remitted for fresh consideration.

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