TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (11) TMI 1224
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....ted as a result of search on the appellant. 2. That since approval obtained u/s 153D of the Act was mechanical, illegal and invalid approval, order of assessment made u/s 153D/143(3) is invalid and without jurisdiction. 3. That the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) has erred both in law and on facts in upholding addition of Rs 10,25,100/- out of Rs. Rs. 70,706 by applying GP rate of 25% on the alleged bogus purchase of 70,78,000/- made with M/s Yash Trading Company. 3.1 That while confirming the above addition, the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) has failed to appreciate the factual substratum of the case, statutory provisions of law and as such, addition so made and sustained is highly misconceived, totally arbitrary, wholly unjustified and therefore, unsustainable. 3.2 That the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) has failed to appreciate that expenditure incurred was duly supported by bills and necessary evidence and the conclusion that the purchases were bogus purchases is contrary to facts and evidence on record and thus unsustainable. 3.3. That the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) has err....
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....herefore unsustainable. 3. The assessee has raised additional ground of appeal which reads as under :- "That having regard to the law and facts of the case, the assessment order is null and void as the same is in violation of CBDT Circular No. 19/2019 requiring mandatory DIN." 4. Since the additional ground goes to the root of the matter we decided to adjudicate it first. 5. A perusal of the assessment order dated 30.12.2019 for A.Y.2015-16 and 30.12.2019 for A.Y. 2016-17 show that there is no mention of DIN on the body of the assessment order. 6. The impugned assessment order is dated 30.12.2019 and admittedly there is no mention of any DIN which makes the CBDT circular No.19/2019 squarely applicable. 7. It would be pertinent to refer to the CBDT Circular No.19/2019 dated 14.08.2019 which is binding on the AO and is as under :- 8. The CBDT further clarified the need for the said Circular as under :- 9. Further clarifying the board issued FAQ as under :- 10. A perusal of the aforementioned circular read with the clarification and FAQ makes it clear that if the assessment order does not follow the mandate of DIN the same has to be treated as invalid ....
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.... the ld. DR that the error is not so fatal as to make the assessment order null and void. It would be pertinent to refer to CBDT Circular No.19/.2019 which reads as under : GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES Circular No.19/2019 New Delhi dated the 14th August 2019 Subject : Generation/ Allotment /Quoting of Document identification Number in Notice/ Order / Summons / letter/ Correspondence issued by the Income-tax Department-reg. With the launch of various e-governance initiatives, Income tax Department is moving toward total computerization of its work. This' has led to a significant improvement in delivery of services and has also brought greater transparency in the functioning of the tax administration. Presently, almost all notices and orders are being generated electronically on the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA) platform. However, it has been brought to the notice of the Central Boa rd of Direct Taxes (the Board) that there have been some instances in which the notice, order, summons, letter and any correspondence (hereinafter referred to as "communication....
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....3 (v) of the CBDT Circular No ... dated (strike off those which are not applicable) and with the approval of the Chief Commissioner / Director General oj Income Tax vide number.... dated .. .. " 4. Any communication which is not in conformity with Para-2 and Para-3 above, shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. 5. The communication issued manually in the three situations specified in para 3- (i), (ii) or (iii) above shall have to be regularised within 15 working days of its issuance, by - i. uploading the manual communication on the System. ii. compulsorily generating the DIN on the System; iii. communicating the DIN so generated to the assessee/any other person as per electronically generated pro-forma available on the System. 6. An intimation of issuance of manual communication for the reasons mentioned in para 3(v) shall be sent to the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) within seven days from the date of its issuance. 7. Further, in all pending assessment proceedings, where notices were issued manually, prior to issuance of this Circular, the income....
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....of the Chief Commissioner/ Director General. The manual communication is required to furnish the reference number and the date when the approval was granted by the concerned officer. The formatted endorsement which is required to be engrossed on such a manual communication, should read as follows : "....... This communication issues manually without a DIN on account of reason/ reasons given in para 3 (i)/3(ii)/3(iii)/3(iv)/3(v) of the CBDT Circular No...... dated .....and with the approval of the Chief Commissioner / Director General of Income Tax vide number ..... dated ...." 8.3 As indicated hereinabove, insofar as communications falling in circumstances alluded to in paragraph 3 (i) to 3 (iii) are concerned, the process of regularization in the manner indicated in paragraph 5, should take place within fifteen (15) working days of its issuance. This period of regularization with regard to the circumstance referred to in paragraph 3 (v) is reduced to seven (7) days, and is required to be marked to the Principal Director General of Income-Tax (Systems) [see paragraph 6 of the 2019 Circular] 9. In the instant case, there is nothing on record to show that, ....
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.... if the officer brings on record facts to show that the impugned assessment order falls within the exceptions provided in the aforementioned CBDT circular. 15. With the above directions the appeals of the assessee are allowed. 16. Decision announced in the open court on 22.11.2023. ============= Document 1 Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Direct Taxes Circular No. 1/2019 New Delhi, dated the 14th August, 2019 Subject: Generation/Allotment/Quoting of Document Identification Number in Notice/Order/Summons/letter/correspondence issued by the Income-tax Department- reg. With the launch of various e-governance initiatives. Income-tax Department is moving toward total computerization of its work. This has led to a significant improvement in delivery of services and has also brought greater transparency in the functioning of the tax- administration. Presently, almost all notices and orders are being generated electronically on the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA) platform. However, it has been brought to the notice of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (the Board) that there have been s....
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....f manual communication in the following format- 110 ".. This communication issues manually without a DIN on account of reason/reasons given in para 3(i)/3(ii)/3(i)/3(iv)/3(v) of the CBDT Circular No...dated (strike off those which are not applicable) and with the approval of the Chief Commissioner/Director General of Income Tax vide number dated 4. Any communication which is not in conformity with Para-2 and Para-3 above, shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. 5. The communication issued manually in the three situations specified in para 3- (i). (ii) or (iii) above shall have to be regularised within 15 working days of its issuance, by i. uploading the manual communication on the System. compulsorily generating the DIN on the System: 6. communicating the DIN so generated to the assessee/any other person as per electronically generated pro-forma available on the System. An intimation of issuance of manual communication for the reasons mentioned in para 3(v) shall be sent to the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) within seven days from the date of its issuance. 7. Further, ....
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....obtaining written approval of the Chief Commissioner / Director General of Income-Tax in a particular format. Any communication which is not in conformity with the prescribed guidelines shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. Further, CBDT has also laid down the timelines and procedure by which such communication issued manually will have to be regularised and intimated to the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems). In addition to the above, in all pending assessment proceedings, where notices were issued manually, prior to issuance of the above referred Circular, all such cases would be identified and the notices so sent would be uploaded on ITBA by 31st October, 2019. This is another step taken by CBDT towards better delivery of taxpayer services while ensuring accountability in official dealings. (Surabhi Ahluwalia) Commissioner of Income Tax Ministry of Finance 113 DIN system of CBDT launched; About 17500 Communications with DIN Generated on First day Posted On: 01 OCT 2019 6:47PM by PIB Delhi The Documentation Identification Number (DIN) system of Central Board of Direct Tax....
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....ere it was not possible to maintain the audit trail of the manually issued communication which in some cases caused inconvenience to taxpayers sometime. However, with the present system of attaching a DIN to every notice or communication of CBDT would result in better services to taxpayers without any possible harassment. *** RM/KMN (Release ID: 1586901) Document 3 e-Filing Aye Aye Incona To Department Goverment of de Call Us English A A Login Register Authenticate the Notice issued by ITD FAQ 1. Why do I need to authenticate notice/order issued to me by Income Tax Authorities? Every communication by Income Tax department issued on or after 1st October, 2019 shall bear an unique Document Identification Number(DIN) In order to satisfy yourself that the notice/order or any communication received by you is genuine and issued by Income Tax Authority, you can authenticate any notice/order or any communication using this service. 2. What if the ITD notice/order does not bear a DIN? In such case, the notice/order/letter received by you would be treated as invalid and shall be non est in law or deemed to be as if it has never been ....