2023 (12) TMI 1267
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....p housing facilities in the State. It filed return of income on 31.03.2007 for AY 2006-2007 declaring an income of Rs. 2,33,74,215/-. On 31.03.2008, the assessee filed a revised return declaring income of Rs. 11,86,511/- and also claiming deduction of Rs. 2,25,43,724/- under Section 80IB(10) of the Act. 2(ii) The Assessing Officer (AO in short) in his assessment order dated 16.12.2009 under Section 143(3) of the Act declined the deduction claimed by the assessee under Section 80 IB(10) of the Act in its revised return. This was for the reason that the assessee had not filed the original return within the permissible period under Section 139 (1) of the Act. The AO held that return of income was filed by the assessee beyond the due date provided under Section 139(1). In view of provisions of Section 80 AC of the Act, the assessee was not entitled to claim deduction under Section 80IB(10) of the Act. Nevertheless, the merits of assessee's deduction claim was also examined by the AO project-wise and he found that none of the concerned 21 projects was eligible for deduction under Section 80IB(10) of the Act. However, on the basis of revised return, the AO further added administrative....
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.... conclusion can be drawn from such return. It is a return on which none can act upon. It is simply not there. No views, interpretation, derivation can be taken or given on such legally non-existing document. However, learned ITAT also held that the CIT ought to have considered the claim of assessee in exercise of its appellate jurisdiction under Section 250 of the Act. If the assessee is otherwise entitled to deduction under Section 80IB(10), but due to its ignorance or for some other reason could not claim the same in the return of income, but has raised its claim before the Appellate Authority, then the Appellate Authority should have looked into the same. The assessee cannot be burdened with taxes which it otherwise is not liable to pay under the law. A duty is cast upon the Income Tax Authorities to charge legitimate taxes from the tax payers. They are not there to punish the tax payers for their bonafide mistakes. Accordingly, for the assessment year 2006-2007,the deduction computed by the CIT on the merits of assessee's claim was confirmed and the appeal was accordingly allowed. 2(v) Feeling aggrieved against the order passed by the ITAT on 10.05.2019 in relation to ....
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....referred to in clause (b), who is not required to furnish a return under this subsection and residing in such area as may be specified by the Board in this behalf by notification in the Official Gazette, and who 4 during the previous year incurs an expenditure of fifty thousand rupees or more towards consumption of electricity or at any time during the previous year fulfils any one of the following conditions, namely:- (i) is in occupation of an immovable property exceeding a specified floor area, whether by way of ownership, tenancy or otherwise, as may be specified by the Board in this behalf; or (ii) is the owner or the lessee of a motor vehicle other than a two-wheeled motor vehicle, whether having any detachable side car having extra wheel attached to such two-wheeled motor vehicle or not; or (iii) * * * * * (iv) has incurred expenditure for himself or any other person on travel to any foreign country; or (v) is the holder of a credit card, not being an "add-on" card, issued by any bank or institution; or (vi) is a member of a club where entrance fee charged is twenty-five thousand rupees or more, shall furnish a return, of....
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....person during the previous year, in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner and setting forth such other particulars as may be prescribed. Explanation 1.-For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression "motor vehicle" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (28) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988). Explanation 2.-In this sub-section, "due date" means,- (a) where the assessee other than an assessee referred to in clause (aa) is- (i) a company ***; or (ii) a person (other than a company) whose accounts are required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force; or (iii) a working partner of a firm whose accounts are required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force, the 30th day of September] of the assessment year; (aa) in the case of an assessee who is required to furnish a report referred to in section 92E, the 30th day of November of the assessment year; (b) in the case of a person other than a company, referred to in the first proviso to this subsection, the 31st day of October of the....
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....d by the local authority on or after the 1st day of April, 2005, within five years from the end of the financial year in which the housing project is approved by the local authority. Explanation.-For the purposes of this clause,- (i) in a case where the approval in respect of the housing project is obtained more than once, such housing project shall be deemed to have been approved on the date on which the building plan of such housing project is first approved by the local authority; (ii) the date of completion of construction of the housing project shall be taken to be the date on which the completion certificate in respect of such housing project is issued by the local authority; (b) the project is on the size of a plot of land which has a minimum area of one acre: Provided that nothing contained in clause (a) or clause (b) shall apply to a housing project carried out in accordance with a scheme framed by the Central Government or a State Government for reconstruction or redevelopment of existing buildings in areas declared to be slum areas under any law for the time being in force and such scheme is notified by the Board in this behal....
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....n the time allowed to him under sub Section (1) may furnish the returns for any previous year at any time before the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of the assessment, whichever is earlier". Section 139(5) provides that "if any person, having furnished a return under sub-section (1) or sub-section (4), discovers any omission or any wrong statement therein, he may furnish a revised return at any time before the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of the assessment, whichever is earlier." 4(iv)(a) Consequences of non filing of return in time as per Section 139(1) vis-à-vis resultant action under Section 276-CC was under consideration before the Hon'ble Apex Court in (2004) 9 SCC 686 Prakash Nath Khanna and another Vs. Commissioner of Income Tax and another. Assessee's submissions inter-alia were that :- 'The expression to furnish in due time figuring in Section 276-CC means to furnish within the time permissible under the Act ; The return furnished under Section 139(4) at any time before the assessment is made, has to be regarded as a return furnished under Section 139(1) ; This was so held by the Apex Court ....
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.... be supplied by the court except in the case of clear necessity and when reason for it is found in the four corners of the statute itself but at the same time a casus omissus should not be readily inferred and for that purpose all the parts of a statute or section must be construed together and every clause of a section should be construed with reference to the context and other clauses thereof so that the construction to be put on a particular provision makes a consistent enactment of the whole statute. This would be more so if literal construction of a particular clause leads to manifestly absurd or anomalous results which could not have been intended by the legislature. "An intention to produce an unreasonable result", said Danckwerts, L.J., in Artemiou v. Procopiou (1966 (1) QB 878), "is not to be imputed to a statute if there is some other construction available". Where to apply words literally would "defeat the obvious intention of the legislation and produce a wholly unreasonable result", we must "do some violence to the words" and so achieve that obvious intention and produce a rational construction. (Per Lord Reid in Luke v. IRC {1963 AC 557} where at AC p. 577 he....
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....d under Section 139(1) for availing the admissible deductions. 4(iv)(b) In Writ Petition (Civil) No. 6537 of 2017 (B.U. Bhandari Nandgude Patil Associates Vs. Central Board of Direct Taxes & Ors.), decided on 12.03.2018, by the Delhi High Court, the return of Assessment Year due under Section 139(1) on 31.10.2006 was actually filed on 30.03.2007 before expiry of the assessment year in question as per extended time provided under Section 139(4). The deductions claimed under Section 80IB were disallowed relying upon Section 80AC on the ground that return of income had not been filed within the time limit specified under Section 139(1). The issue before the Delhi High Court pertained to order passed in the assessee's application under Section 119(2)(6) of the Act seeking extension of time for filing of return. The ground forwarded for late filing of the return was delay in audit. The Court considered the case for condonation of delay as under :- "9. The main issue raised by the assessee in this case is that the delay in audit has led to delay in filing of return which had led to his claim of 80IB(10) being disallowed and this had caused genuine hardship to him. It should b....
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....lp the assessee's case as any medical exigency of the magnitude being claimed would have delayed at least a few more audits." 15. We have considered the said findings recorded by the CBDT, which are primarily factual and also lucid and cogent. Deduction under Section 80IB was not examined and considered on merits by the Assessing Officer. The contention that if the petitioner had followed percentage completion method claim for issue of deduction under Section 80IB would have arisen in subsequent year was a hypothetical. Petitioner was required and CBDT was justified in asking the petitioner to establish the reason propounded. In the absence of details of alleged illness and a single document to support the bland assertion, we are not inclined to hold that the impugned order suffers from perversity or error in decision making process in reaching the conclusion. Impugned order is not arbitrary or whimsical, to justify interference in exercise of our power of judicial review. The respondent authorities have taken all the arguments and materials into consideration. Procedural flaw is not alleged. 16. The findings recorded in the impugned order and the facts discussed ....
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....hers. 18. In the present case, we do not know the nature of illness or medical emergency suffered by the auditor and how long the auditor was incapacitated and could not work. The assertions made to justify extension of time have to be proved and established. Any indulgence on the pretext that the petitioner has been denied benefit under Section 80IB, which on merits would have been allowed, would be contrary to law, if it is held that there was no reasonable ground or reason for extension of time in filing of the return". 4(iv)(c) 299 CTR 173 Delhi (Fiberfill Engineers Vs. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax) was a case where a re-assessment notice was issued to the assessee on the ground that it could not be granted deduction under Section 80 IC because of belated filing of return of income. However, it was noted that on merits, assessee's claim for deduction was justified. In the circumstances, the Delhi High Court held in favour of assessee that since entitlement of assessee to deduction had not been questioned by the department on merits, there was no justification for not viewing delay in filing the return to be bonafide. 4(iv)(d) In the instant case, the assesse....
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