2024 (12) TMI 457

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.... the assessment order dated 20.09.2022 passed by the National Faceless Assessment Centre ('Assessment Centre') under section 143(3) read with section 144B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ("the Act") and the order dated 08.11.2023 passed by the National Faceless Appeal Centre ('Appeal Centre') under section 250 of the Act for the Assessment Year ("AY") 2020- 21, and the additions/ disallowances made therein, are based on surmises and conjectures, and hence, bad in law. 2. That the Assessment Centre/ Appeal Centre has erred on facts and in law in disallowing the deduction claimed under section 80G of the Act to the extent of Rs 2,57,66,663/- alleging that the expenses incurred on account of Corporate Social Responsibility ("CSR") are not....

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.... donations made to eligible funds, even if the same forms part of the CSR expenditure. 7. That in view of the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the Assessment Centre has erred in initiating the penalty proceedings against the assessee under section 270A of the Act. 8. That the documents, explanations filed by the Appellant, and the material available on record have not been properly considered and judicially interpreted and have been wrongly ignored. 2. The brief facts of the case are that the assessee filed its return of income on 10.02.2021 and processing u/s. 143(3) was completed on 20.09.2022. The AO made the disallowance of claimed as donation u/s. 80G amounting to Rs. 2,57,66,663/-, charged interest ....

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.... in dispute is squarely covered by the following catena of ITAT orders. Hence, he requested to follow the ratio of the following decisions in the instant case and allow the grounds raised in the appeal. 1. Ratna Sagar Pvt. Ltd. vs. ACIT, Central Circle-4, New Delhi ITA No. 2256/Del/23 2. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. vs. ACIT, Circle 1(1), Gurugram ITA No. 1523/Del/22 3. Interglobe Technology Quotient Private Limited vs. ACIT, Circle 10(1), New Delhi. ITA No. 95/Del/24 4. M/s Goldman Sachs Services Pvt. Ltd. vs. JCIT, Special Range-3, Bangalore. IT(TP)A No. 2355/Bang/2019 5. M/s JMS Mining Pvt. Ltd. vs. PCIT, Kolkata-2, Kolkata. ITA No. 146/Kol/21 6. Ericsson India Global Servi....

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....03.2024. In view of above, he requested to follow the ratio of the aforesaid Tribunal's orders and allow the issue in dispute in favour of the assessee raised in the instant appeal. 5.2 Ld. Sr. DR did not controvert the aforesaid proposition made by the Ld. AR, but he supported the orders of the authorities below. 6. Upon careful consideration, we find considerable cogency in the contention of the Ld. AR that identical issue has been dealt by the Coordinate Bench of ITAT, Delhi vide order dated 28.05.2024 passed in ITA No. 95/Del/2024 (AY 2020-21) in the case of Interglobe Technology Quotient Private Limited, wherein the Coordinate Bench has held as under:- "7. Learned DR has failed to bring forth any decision to ....

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....t that Parliament legislated that CSR expenses would not be eligible for deduction as business expenditure under section 37 of the Act by inserting Explanation 2 to section 37(1) vide the Finance (No.2) Act, 2014 (applicable from the assessment year 2015-16), which provided that any expenditure incurred by an assessee on the activities relating to CSR referred to in section 135 of the CA 2013, shall not be deemed to be an expenditure incurred by an assessee for the purpose of business or profession and shall not be allowed as deduction under section 37(1) of the IT Act. The intent of Parliament in bringing the aforesaid provision is given in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Finance (No.2) Bill, 2014 and is reproduced as under ; "C....

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....ms on which deduction shall be allowed to the assessee. Section 80G falls in Chapter VIA, which comes into play only after the gross total income has been computed by applying the computation provisions under various heads of income, including the Explanation 2 to section 37(1) of the Act. Thus, there is no correlation between suo-moto disallowance in section 37(1) and claim of deduction under section 80G of the Act. 7.5 As with regard to the reasoning that CSR expenditure are not voluntary but mandatory in nature due to penal consequences, we are of considered view that voluntary nature of donation is by nature of fact that it is not on the basis of any reciprocal promise of donee. The CSR expenditures are also without any recipro....