https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=450192 The Bombay HC held that reopening of assessment under Section 147 based on audit objections was invalid. The court found that both issues raised in the reason to believe - employee benefit expenses for ESOP and income from arbitrage business - were already considered during original assessment proceedings through queries raised by the AO. Since the assessee had disclosed these items in audited accounts filed with the return and responded to AO's queries, the reopening constituted merely a change of opinion, which is impermissible. The court emphasized that AO must independently determine reasons to believe income escaped assessment, not rely on audit objections. Petition allowed in favour of assessee. en-us Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 29 Feb 2024 07:55:52 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=450192 The Bombay HC held that reopening of assessment under Section 147 based on audit objections was invalid. The court found that both issues raised in the reason to believe - employee benefit expenses for ESOP and income from arbitrage business - were already considered during original assessment proceedings through queries raised by the AO. Since the assessee had disclosed these items in audited accounts filed with the return and responded to AO's queries, the reopening constituted merely a change of opinion, which is impermissible. The court emphasized that AO must independently determine reasons to believe income escaped assessment, not rely on audit objections. Petition allowed in favour of assessee. Case-Laws Income Tax Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=450192