TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2008 (1) TMI 130
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....he appeal of the assessee and setting aside the order of ld.CIT(A) and quashing the intimation sent by the A.O. U/s 143(1)(a) of the I.T. Act, 1961 ? (ii)Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case, the ld. ITAT is right in law in taking a view that the changing of status of firm from Trust to an Association of Persons (AOP) falls outside the purview of see 143 (1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1961?" 2. The brief facts out of which the present appeal has arisen are as under:- 3. The asseessee filed Income Tax return in this case on 27.3.1997 showing his income as Nil. While processing the return under Section 143(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act (for short the 'Act'), the Assessing Officer found that the claim of the assessee for exe....
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....ncy to the assessee for filing registration certificate u/s 12A to which the appellant failed to comply. The appellant failed to furnish the certificate of registration issued by the competent authority under sec. 12A of the Income tax Act 1961 even at the appellate stage. On the contrary it is established that the trust of the appellant is not registered by the competent authority i.e. CIT under Section 12-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. I, therefore, hold that the A.O. was right in his action in treating the trust as an A.O.P instead of religious trust in the absence of any proof having the trust been registered by the CIT under Section 12A of the Income tax Act 1961. It is more so because the appellant failed to remove the deficienc....
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....ver, the AO could have done so by issuance of notice under Section 143(2) of the Act. 6. Mr. Yogesh Putney, counsel for the revenue has argued that admittedly the respondent-trust was not registered with the Commissioner of Income Tax under Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act therefore, was not entitled to the exemption as claimed under Section 11 of the Act and further the assessee failed to furnish any explanation/reply to the letter dated 12.3.1998 written by the AO to him allowing him an opportunity to explain why the status of the trust may not be taken as AOP in the absence of registration. Therefore, the trust/assessee was rightly treated as an AOP at the time of processing the return under Section 143(1)(a) of the Act. In support of....
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...., accounts or documents, the deduction allowance or relief claimed is prima facie inadmissible. The conclusion that the claim of the assessee is inadmissible must, in other words, flow from the return as filed. No power is given to the Incometax Officer to disallow a claim for the reason that there is no proof in support of the claim made by the assessee. In a way, the said clause (iii) of the proviso is analogous to section 154 of the Act. Where it is evident from the return as filed, along with the documents in support thereof, that a claim of the assessee is inadmissible, only then an adjustment under the said proviso can be made. If proof in support of the claim is not furnished by an assessee, then for the lack of proof, no....
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....eturn, it shall be granted. However, the first proviso to the section authorises the Assessing Officer to make certain adjustments while calculating the tax or interest payable or while granting refund. The adjustments permitted to be made are also specified under the proviso. Clause (iii) of the first proviso lays down that unless the return or the accompanying documents or accounts show that the deduction, allowance or relief claimed therein is prima facie inadmissible on the basis of information available in the said documents, such deduction or allowance claimed cannot be disallowed. The phrase "prima facie" is not defined in the Act. In common parlance the phrase "prima facie" means "on the face of it". Going by the literal and d....
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....d to the Revenue. In a given case where the Assessing Officer has any doubt about the allowability of deduction or claim made by the assessee, it is open to him to issue a notice under sub-section (2) of section 143 and have the evidence in support thereof. 10. The Hon'ble Kerala High Court in the case of Commissioner of Income Tax vs. K.V. Mankaram & Co., (2000) 245 ITR 353 while interpreting the scope of Section 143(1)(a) of the Act where the status of a firm was changed to an AOP held as under( headnote ):- "The proceeding under section 143(1)(a) does not result in an order of assessment. The intimation given under section 143(1)(a) cannot be treated an order of assessment. It is only to be deemed an order for the limited purpose of se....