2023 (6) TMI 122

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.... to the Assessment Year ('A.Y.' for short) 2012-13. 2. The solitary issue involved in this appeal is the levy of penalty u/s. 271F of the Act amounting to Rs.5,000/-. The brief facts of the case are that the assessee is an individual engaged in the legal profession and also works as a partner at a law firm S. Ashwinkumar & Co. The Assessing Officer (A.O. for short) observed that the assessee has not filed his return of income for A.Y. 2012-13 and had also observed that the assessee has sold immovable property for consideration of Rs.75 lacs as per the Individual Transaction Statement (ITS) under the AST system. The A.O. reopened the assessee's case u/s. 147 of the Act by issuing notice dated 31.03.2019 u/s. 148 of the Act. The assessee f....

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....see is said to have earned substantial income from the partnership firm. The ld. AR further contended that the assessee's Accountant left the job due to assessee's financial crunch and the same was the reason for assessee's failure to compile the financial transactions and, hence, the reason for non-filing of the returns during the impugned year. The ld. AR for the assessee relied on the decision of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Hindustan Steel Ltd. (supra) which held that the levy of penalty is only a matter of discretion of the authority which has to be exercised judiciously and on consideration of all the facts and circumstances. 7. The learned Departmental Representative (ld. DR for short) for the Revenue, on the other ha....

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....s the discretion of the authority which is to be exercised judiciously and on consideration of the facts and circumstances. It is observed from the submission of the assessee that the assessee has not substantiated his failure in filing the return of income within the stipulated time by any reasonable cause supported with cogent evidence. The assessee has merely stated that owing to the financial crisis and his Accountant quitting the employment the assessee was unable to file returns, cannot be a reasonable cause for the failure on the part of the assessee. It is also pertinent to point out the fact that the assessee was on a bonafide belief that income of a partnership firm is exempted from tax, is an unacceptable contention that cannot b....