TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2016 (5) TMI 339
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....escaped assessment, action u/s 147 of the I.T. Act, 1961 was initiated and accordingly, a notice u/s 148 was issued. The information which was in possession of the Assessing Officer was Form No. 26AS filed by the deductor with the department, which showed that for the financial year 2007-08, relevant to assessment year 2008-09, the assessee had received a total amount of Rs. 26,98,149/- from various parties on which TDS of Rs. 74,719/- was deducted by the deductors. Apart from this information, it also came to the knowledge of the Assessing Officer that the assessee derived income from her proprietorship concern namely M/s. Fern 'N' Petals. In response to said notice u/s 148 dated 29.09.2010, the assessee filed a return on 16.12.2010 declar....
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....u/s 148 of the I.T. Act, on 29.09.2010. The intention of the assessee to conceal her particulars of income proves from the fact, that when she was having taxable income for the year under consideration as himself has admitted in her reply filed on 31.01.2012, that the accounts were got audited for the year under consideration, why not the return of Income was filed on or before the due date and why not the tax on the said income was deposited. The assessee has come forward only after issue of notice u/s 148 of the Act on 29.09.2010 and has deposited the self assessment tax of Rs. 16,15,240/- on 16.12.2010 for the taxable income shown in the return of income filed in response to notice u/s 148. Therefore, it is only in pursuance of the depar....
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....rnishing of inaccurate particulars of income u/s 271 (1)(c ) of the Act . It was urged that penalty proceedings u/s 271(1)(c) were not legally sustainable. He drew our attention to a chart showing the relevant dates as under: AY-2008-09 Event Date Time Limit u/s 153(1) 31-12-2010 Concerned AY 2008-09 ending 31-03-2009 Date of Notice u/s 148 29-09-2010 Date of Filing ROI 16-12-2010 5.3 The Ld. AR submitted that from a conjoint reading of the provisions of section 153(1) as well as the factual matrix of significant dates it was clear that not only did the assessment proceedings start before the expiry of due date u/s 153(1) but return was also submitted in compliance thereof before the expiry of the prescribed time limit u....
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....ue that the Assessee is guilty of concealing particulars of income or furnishing inaccurate particulars of income. He submitted that in light of the facts of the case and the settled judicial pronouncements the penalty ought to be deleted. 5.4 The Ld. DR relied on the order of the Ld. CIT (A) and submitted that the penalty evaded ought to be sustained. 6. We have heard the rival submissions and perused the material on record. It is an undisputed fact that the returned income has been accepted, there is no satisfaction recorded by the assessing officer that assessee had concealed income with reference to return of income filed by him in response to notice u/s 148. Hon'ble Supreme Court in Varkey Chacko v. CIT [1993] 203 ITR 885 has held th....
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.... returns showing higher income after search and notice for reopening of assessment, to purchase peace and avoid litigation and Department simply rested its conclusion on the act of voluntary surrender done by the assessee in good faith, High Court was justified in holding that no penalty could be levied. The assessee's case is on more strong footing as that of Suresh Chand Mittal (supra) decided by Hon'ble Supreme Court. As held in earlier paragraphs there should be variation in assessed and returned income and such variation should be as a result of concealment. It is not the case of assessing officer that penalty u/s 271(1)(c) has been imposed on certain additions made to the returned income. Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of M/S S.....