2025 (8) TMI 1241
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....24 : At the outset it is observed that there is a delay of 218 days in filing the instant appeal, on which the Assessee has claimed that in Form No.35 in response to the question "whether notices/communication may be sent on email?", the Assessee has specifically mentioned "No". However, no physical notice has ever been received by the Assessee. The Assessee further claimed that it has neither received the impugned order on the registered email ID nor any hard copy of the same. The Assessee only came to know about the impugned order, once the demand notice dated 13.10.2024 was issued by the ACIT, Circle 22(1) which was received by the Assessee on 14.10.2024 and thereafter the Assessee immediately filed the instant appeal but with a delay of 218 days in filing the same. The delay has been occurred not due to any deliberate or malafide intention or negligence but because of the aforesaid reasons, which were beyond control and therefore the assessee is praying for condonation of delay by taking lenient view. On the contrary, the Ld. D.R. refuted the claim of the Assessee by submitting that on ITBA portal, order passed by the NFAC goes automatically in digital mode to the registered em....
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....s on this issue, has allowed the identical deduction claimed u/s 80P2(d) of the Act by observing and holding as under: "3. Grounds No. 1 and 2 have not been pressed by the appellant and grounds no. 3 to 5 related to disallowance of deduction u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Act. Grounds No. 6 & 7 are against the charging of interest u/s 234A, 234B & 234C of the Act. 4. Brief facts of the case are as under: a. The assessee is a co-operative housing society and return for A.Y. 2020-21 was filed on 13.02.2021 declaring income of Rs. 1,74,722/- after claiming deduction of Rs. 30,36,217/- u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Act. b. After considering the written submissions filed by the assessee, the assessment was completed by the AO, disallowing the claim of the deduction u/s 80P(2)(d) of the interest income earned from banks as under: Particulars Amount Bank Name Interest of Fixed deposit 14,76,640/- Sarswat Co-op Bank Ltd. Interest jn Sweep Fixed-Deposit-Sarswat Bank 15,39,258/- Sqrswat Co-op Bank Ud Interest in Saving Bank 9,040/- Sarswat Co-op Bank Ltd Interest in Saving Bank 11,273/- Mumbai District Central Co-op Bank. Ltd. ....
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.... it is relevant to note the provisions of section 80P of the Act under which the assessee has claimed the deduction in the present case. As per the provisions of section 80P(1) of the Act, the income referred to in sub-section (2) to section 80P shall be allowed as a deduction to an assessee being a Co-operative Society. Further, section 80P(2)(d) of the Act, reads as under: "80P. Deduction in respect of income of co-operative societies. (2) The sums referred to in sub-section (1) shall be the following, namely:- ** ** (d) in respect of any income by way of interest or dividends derived by the co-operative society from its investments with any other cooperative society, the whole of such income;" 10. Thus, for the purpose of provisions of section 80P(2)(d) of the Act, two conditions are required to be cumulatively satisfied- (i) income by way of interest or dividend is earned by the Co-operative Society from the investments, and (ii) such investments should be with any other Cooperative Society. Further, the term "co-operative society? is defined under section 2(19) of the Act as under: "(19) "co-operative society" means a co-operative society re....
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....o-operative Societies but vice versa is not true. We find that the coordinate benches of the Tribunal have consistently taken a view in favour of the assessee and held that even the interest earned from the Co-operative Banks is allowable as a deduction under section 80P(2)(d) of the Act. In Kaliandas Udyag Bhavan Premises Co-op Society Ltd. v. ITO [2018] 94 taxmann.com 15 (Mum.)/[ITA No. 6547/Mum/2017, dated 25-4-2018], while dealing with the provisions of section 80P(2)(d) vis-à-vis section 80P(4) of the Act, the coordinate bench of the Tribunal observed as under: 7....... Thus, from a perusal of the aforesaid sec. 80P(2)(d) it can safely be gathered that income by way of interest income derived by an assessee co-operative society from its investments held with any other cooperative society, shall be deducted in computing the total income of the assessee. We may herein observe, that what is relevant for claim of deduction under sec. 80P(2)(d) is that the interest income should have been derived from the investments made by the assessee co-operative society with any other cooperative society. We though are in agreement with the observations of the lower authorities....
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....the Hon'ble Karnataka High Court in Pr. CT v. Totagars Cooperative Sale Society (2017) 78 taxmann.com 169/392 ITR 74 held that according to section 80P(2)(d) of the Act, the amount of interest earned from a Co-operative Society Bank would be deductable from the gross income of the Co-operative Society in order to assess its total income. Thus, there are divergent views of the same Hon'ble High Court on the issue of eligibility of deduction under section 80P(2)(d) of the Act in respect of interest earned from Co-operative Bank. No decision of the Hon'ble jurisdictional High Court was brought to our notice on this aspect. We have to, with our highest respect to both the views of the Hon'ble High Court, adopt an objective criterion for deciding as to which decision of the Hon'ble High Court should be followed by us. We find guidance from the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in CIT v. Vegetable Products Ltd. [1973] 88 ITR 192. In the aforesaid decision, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has laid down a principle that "if two reasonable constructions of a taxing provisions are possible, that construction which favours the assessee must be adopted". 14. ....
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