TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (4) TMI 94
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....evant finding of the Assessing Officer in making the addition in the case of Sri.Benjamin P.Varkey for the assessment year 2006-2007, reads as follows:- "It was found that Shri Benjamin P.Varkey, the Assessee did not file the Return of Income for A.Y. 2006-07. As per the information available with this office, during the previous year relevant to A.Y. 2006- 07, Shri Benjamin P.Varkey, the assessee had Deposits / Liquid Assets in Banks located outside India. But the Assessee has not filed Return of Income for the A. Y. 2006-07 and has not explained the source of the above assets located outside India, the income from which is chargeable to tax in India. Thus the Assessing Officer had reasons to believe that Income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment. Therefore, as per Explanation 2 to Section 147 of the Income Tax Act 1961, Notice u/s.148 of the Act was issued on 28.11.2014. The Assessee filed Return in response to the same on 23.12.2014 declaring NIL income. Notice u/s.143(2) r.w.s. 147 was issued on 05.02.2015 and notice u/s. 142(1) for specific details was issued on 18.02.2015. Shri Thomson Thomas, Chartered Accountant, appeared on behalf of the Assessee and discussed the ....
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.... Amount invested (in $) Period Remarks 1. 1,04,482 November 2005 Fiduciary deposits 2. 708 November 2005 Liquid Assets 3. 1,05,079 December 2005 Fiduciary deposits 4. 340 December 2005 Liquid Assets 5. 1,05,676 January 2006 Fiduciary deposits 6. 340 January 2006 Liquid Assets 7. 1,06,215 February 2006 Fiduciary deposits 8. 340 February 2006 Liquid Assets 9. 1,04,433 Marcy 2006 Fiduciary deposits 10 746 March 2006 Liquid Assets Total $ 5,28,359 Converted into India Rs. (@44.48 Rs./$), this amounts to Rs. 2,35,01,408/-. Deposit being given several opportunities, the assessee has not properly linked the source for the above mentioned investments with any income earned abroad. The assessee has merely claimed all along that the investments were sourced from his and his spouse's employment savings from abroad and claims to have deposited those amounts into the HSBC account. However, this claim of the assessee is not acceptable, in the absence of sufficient supporting documents. 5. The only details furnished by the assessee during the course of the assessment proceedings are the certifi....
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....nt in A. Y. 2006-07. Unless a clear one to one linking is established to trace the HSBC investments to and foreign earned income, assessee's arguments are merely hypothetical and unsubstantiated. In view of the above facts, the investments made by the assessee in the secret account with HSBC Bank Pvt. Ltd (Suisse), Switzerland are deemed to be sourced from India and accordingly, in the absence of any satisfactory explanation from the assessee regarding the source thereof, these are added as unexplained investments u/s. 69 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Hence, an addition of Rs. 2,35,01,408/- is made to the assessee's total income uls.69. Though the HSBC account is a joint one with the assessee's spouse, in the absence of sufficient evidence to prove the share of the assessee (who is the primary account holder) in the investments made, the entire amount is being added in the assessee's hand" Based on the above, the Assessment for A.Y. 2006-2007 is finalized as under as per the provisions of the Act. Returned Income : Nil Additions : Unexplained investments u/s 69 as discussed above. Rs.2,35,01,408 Assessed Income Rs.2,35,01,408 4. Similar addition....
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....He is a USA passport holder. vi) In the year 1987, the appellant and his wife Aleyamma left UAE and migrated to USA. He closed his bank accounts in UAE and opened an account with his wife in HSBC Bank, Switzerland. vii) The said account was closed on 16.09.2009 and the amount of US$. 1,11,812.37 was deposited in NRE Account at Union Bank of India, Muvattupuzha on 03.10.2009 (copy of DO issued by HSBC Bank has been enclosed). I have gone through the submission and details filed by the appellant, and find them to be correct. Two kinds of persons can be assessed in India, One - a Resident, whose global income is taxable in India, and Second - if the source of any persons income is from India. In this case, there is no dispute about the residential status of the Appellant as he is clearly a Non- Resident. He has contended that he has no source of Income from India. The AO has taxed his deposits in HSBC Bank (Switzerland: in spite of the fact that he was a non-resident and has explained as to where he earned this income and why he deposited this amount in HSBC Bank. If the AO wants to tax this deposit, the onus is on the AO to prove that this income has been earned in India, wh....
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....unless a clear one-to-one linking is established to trace the deposits and investments in the HSBC account to any foreign earned income, the argument of the assessee is hypothetical and therefore ought to have dismissed the assessee's appeal. 6. The learned CIT(A) failed to consider the fact that the assessee had declared his nationality as Indian and his Indian domicile address located in Kerala in the HSBC Geneva, Switzerland account, indicating thereby that the source of the deposits therein was in India. 7. The learned CIT(A) failed to consider the fact that the HSBC, Geneva, Switzerland account are essentially secret account in which the assessee has been consistently making investments throughout the relevant assessment year. 8. For these and such other grounds that may be urged at the hearing, it is prayed that the order of the Assessing Officer be upheld and that of the order of the learned CIT(A) be cancelled." 7. The learned Departmental Representative strongly relied on the assessment order and the grounds raised before the Tribunal. The learned AR, on the other hand, strongly supported the order of the CIT(A). The assessee has filed a paper book consistin....
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....ed forward from the year 1999. While completing the assessment year A.Y. 2006- 2007, the monthly balances from November 2005 to March 2006 are added presuming that each month's balances are fresh deposits and the same is assessed as income. In the case of A.Y. 2007-2008, the monthly balances from April 2006 to February 2007 are added together again presuming that each month's balances are fresh deposits and the same is assessed as income. In making the addition, the Assessing Officer has relied on a statement in Excel Sheet. Copy of this statement is enclosed at page 27 of the paper book. It was submitted that each month the balances are carried over to the next month and such balances carried over are not fresh deposits. Alleging that the assessee had opened deposits with HSBC, Switzerland during the financial year 2005-2006 amounting to Rs. 2,35,01,408, the Assessing Officer assessed this amount of Rs. 2,35,01,408 as the total income. The same amount is again assessed as the income of the assessee's wife Smt.Aleyamma Banjamin in the ground that it as a joint account, which is not correct. 8.3 As per section 5(2) of the I.T.Act, the following income of a non-resident can be asses....