2017 (9) TMI 1892
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....th narrating the facts for assessment year 2010-11. 3. The relevant facts as culled out from the material on record are as under :- Assessee is stated to be a company registered u/s 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. It is stated to be operating for the purpose of promoting trade, industry, commerce and agriculture and is not for profit organization registered u/s 12A of the Act by Certificate of Registration dt.15.03.1976. Assessee filed its return of income for A.Y. 2010-11 on 01.10.2010 declaring total income of Rs.Nil by claiming exemption u/s 11 of the Act. The case was selected for scrutiny and thereafter assessment was framed u/s 143(3) of the Act vide order dt.18.03.2013 and the total income was determined at Rs. 2,73,10,156/-. Aggrieved by the order of AO, assessee carried the matter before Ld.CIT(A), who vide order dt.22.03.2015 (in appeal No.PN/CIT(A)10/ITO, Wd.11(1)/857/13-14) granted substantial relief to the assessee. Aggrieved by the order of Ld.CIT(A), Revenue is now in appeal before us and has raised the following grounds : "a) Whether in the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law the Ld.CIT(A) was right in allowing the benefit of exemption under se....
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....issions filed in this regard. The appellant i.e. Maharatta Chamber of Commerce, Industries & Agriculture is a company registered u/s. 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 and functions as a service organization for the development and promotion of trade. The appellant claims that it is not a profit organization but carries out various activities for advancement of dominant objective which is promotion of trade, commerce and industries. These activities like Trade exhibitions, program fees, publication revenue, certificate of origin, Energy Consultancy, revenue from use of facilities, advertisement from website and subscription fees are only for advancement of dominant objective of the Trust which is promotion of Trade, commerce and Industry and the surplus generated out of the above is only incidental and not done with profit motive. 17. Before adjudicating the issue, it is important to go through Sec.2(15) of Income-tax Act. Section 2(15) after the amendment made by Finance Act 2010, w.e.f 01.04.2009 is as follows : XXXX 18. Careful reading of Sec. 2(15) of Income-tax Act as modified by the 2010 amendment w.e.f 01.04.2009 shows that this section employs the common method of definin....
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....round No.2 to 6 are allowed." Aggrieved by the order of Ld.CIT(A), Revenue is now in appeal before us. 6. Before us, Ld.DR. took us through the various observations of AO and strongly supported his order. He further submitted that CBDT vide Circular No.11/2008 F.N/134/34/2008 TPL dt.19.12.2008 also clarified the issue and has held that when the organization has dealings with non-members, then their claim of being charitable organizations would be governed by the additional conditions stipulated in the provisions of Sec.2(15) of the Act. He submitted that in the present case, assessee was also having dealing with non-members. He further submitted that the term 'in relation to' means directly relatable to and for which he placed reliance on the decision in the case of Maxopp Investment Limited and others Vs. CIT reported in (2011) 64 DTR (Del) 122. Ld.AR. on the other hand reiterated the submissions made before AO and Ld.CIT(A). He further submitted that assessee has been granted registration u/s 12A of the Act since 1976 and has been carrying out similar activities in earlier years also. He submitted that assessee is a service organization for the development and promotion of trad....
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.... company registered u/s 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 and is "not for profit" organization and it is engaged as service organization for the development and promotion of trade, commerce and agriculture. We find that as per the Memorandum of Association, the income / profit of the assessee are to be applied solely for the promotion of the objects set forth in its Memorandum and no portion of income of the property can be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise by way of profit to any person. Before us, no material has been placed by Revenue to demonstrate that the assessee has in any way distributed or paid bonus or dividends. Further, before us, no material has been placed on record by Revenue to show that the dominant activity of the assessee was trade, business or commerce and the driving force was to earn profit. On the issue where the assessee had earned fee or some other consideration and still the assessee was eligible for deduction u/s 11 of the Act, we find that Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of India Trade Promotion Organization (supra) has noted as under : "53. From the said decision, it is apparent that merely because....