TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2006 (2) TMI 110
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....s justified in holding that the appellant was guilty of deliberate mis-statement of facts and concealment of facts, thereby attracting penalty under section 271(1)(c) of the Income-tax Act in the surrounding facts and circumstances of the case? 2. Whether the learned Tribunal had erred in not holding that the provisions of section 273A of the Income-tax Act, were attracted in the instant case and thereby exempted the appellant from paying the impugned penalty assessment?" The brief facts of the case are stated as follows: The assessment year involved is 1998-99. The assessee-company filed the return for the assessment year 1998-99 admitting a total income of Rs. 26,52,200. The assessment was completed under section 143(3) of the Ac....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) contending that the Assessing Officer failed to appreciate the explanation offered by the assessee that even though the assessee had paid the sales tax, the same was deleted for the next year and the assessee, in fact, paid the income-tax for the said receipt in the assessment year 1999-2000 on the basis that the sale got completed only in June, 1998 when the purchaser received the goods in question. It was also the case of the assessee before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) that the assessee neither concealed income, nor furnished any inaccurate fact, but, on the other hand, paid the income-tax voluntarily in the assessment year 1999-2000. Rejecting the contentions raised by the ass....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....deliberately to prevent relevant facts from becoming known. The Explanation to section 271 of the Act makes it clear that in such circumstances, the assessee is entitled to offer an explanation that his act was a sequel not amounting to concealment or not amounting to furnishing inaccurate particulars. In the instant case, the fact remains that the sale of the goods in question was completed only in June, 1998 when the purchaser received the goods, even though the assessee issued the invoice on March 31, 1998. So to decide the question whether the assessee has concealed income or not with intent to prevent the relevant facts from becoming known, the fact that the sale was completed in June, 1998 has to be taken into consideration. The ac....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....t all in section 271(1)(c) of the Act. The word 'conceal' as defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as 'not allowed to be seen; hide; keep secret; prevent from doing known.' Concealment, implies the existence of a deliberate intent to prevent relevant facts from becoming known. This, however, is not to say that the assesses can afford to be routinely careless and casual while submitting the returns They certainly do have a duty to verify the particulars furnished by them and ensure that particulars furnished are indeed accurate. The power under section 271 is discretionary and it is while exercising the discretion that the factors referred to by us are required to be taken into account." In this view of the matter, we hold that the ....