TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (2) TMI 1425
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....the addition of Rs. 78.69 lakhs made by the AO u/s 56(2)(x) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 ("the Act"). 2. The facts relating to the case are stated in brief. The AO took up the return of income filed by the assessee for scrutiny in order to verify the investment made by the assessee in the immoveable properties. It was noticed that the assessee and his brothers have purchased four shops in a building, named, "Krishna Tower" for a consideration of Rs. 18,22,800/-. It was noticed that the value determined by the stamp authorities for the above said four shops was Rs. 2,54,30,000/-. Hence, there was a difference of Rs. 2,36,07,200/- between stamp duty value and actual consideration of the four shops. 2.1. When questioned about the same, th....
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....at page No.5 of paper book, for having received Rs. 7 lakhs by way of cheque No. 135269, dt. 05-05-1995 drawn on Bank of India. Thus, we notice that the impugned property was booked in the year 1995 by paying part consideration by way of cheque. Accordingly, as per the facts of the present case, we are of the view that the first &second proviso to section 56(2)(x) of the Act shall apply. For the sake of convenience, we extract below the provisions of sec.56(2)(x) of the Act and we have highlighted the first and second said provisos. "56. (1) Income of every kind which is not to be excluded from the total income under this Act shall be chargeable to income-tax under the head "Income from other sources", if it is not chargeable to in....
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....nt of consideration referred to therein, or a part thereof, has been paid by way of an account payee cheque or an account payee bank draft or by use of electronic clearing system through a bank account or through such other electronic mode as may be prescribed, on or before the date of agreement for transfer of such immovable property: Provided also that where the stamp duty value of immovable property is disputed by the assessee on grounds mentioned in sub-section (2) of section 50C, the Assessing Officer may refer the valuation of such property to a Valuation Officer, and the provisions of section 50C and sub-section (15) of section 155 shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to the stamp duty value of such property for the pu....
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....s considered the stamp duty value as on the date of registration of the agreement to sell for the purpose of determining the applicability of sec.56(2)(x) of the Act. However, the facts that the assessee had been allotted both the properties by way of allotment letters and further, the assessee has also paid instalments as per that letter are not disputed. Hence, the question that arises is whether the allotment letter can be considered as "agreement to sale" within the meaning of the provisos to sec. 56(2)(x) of the Act, which states that the stamp duty valuation as on the sale of sale agreement should be taken into consideration for the purpose of sec.56(2)(x), provided that amount of consideration or part thereof had been paid as per the....
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.... 9. On the contrary, we are of the view that the decision rendered by another co- ordinate bench in the case of Mr Sajjanraj Mehta (supra) is applicable to the facts of the present case. The decision rendered in the case of Mr Sajjanraj Mehta by the co-ordinate bench is extracted below, for the sake of convenience:- "10. We have gone through the order of the A.O, Ld. CIT(A) and various submissions of assessee dated 06-10-2021. Vide pg no-23 to 27 of paperbook we have observed the payment made by the assessee to the developer on 17-10-2011 amounting to Rs 14 lacs vide cheque no 906740, Bank of Maharashtra to enter into an agreement cum acknowledgement of payment made and other terms and conditions about the property. This agreement....
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....tan Shah assessee's case clearly falls in the proviso to Section 56(2)(vii)(b). In the above said case, the co-ordinate bench has held that the allotment letter can be taken as agreement for sale. We also notice that the above said decision has been followed by another Co-ordinate Bench in the case of Pinki Chetan Shah vs. Addl CIT (ITA No.3629/Mum/2023 dated 27-02-2024). 3.3. In view of the foregoing discussions, we are of the view that the AO was not right in taking into consideration of the stamp duty value of SRO as on the date of registration of the sale deed. The Ld.CIT(A) was also not justified in confirming the addition so made by the AO. 3.4. As per the above cited decisions, the AO is required to compare the sale cons....