TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (4) TMI 340
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....le ground raised by the assessee is reproduced herein below: 1. The Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC has erred in law and facts in dismissing the appeal and confirming the penalty of 200% being Rs. 62,400/- u/s 270A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 without properly considering the facts and circumstances of the case. 2. Briefly stated, the Assessee is a partnership firm engaged in the export of general merchandise. For the relevant AY 2019-20, the Assessee filed its return of income on 25.09.2019, declaring a total income of Rs.50,05,950/-. In this return, a deduction of Rs.1,00,000/- was claimed under Section 80GGC on account of a donation purportedly made to a political party, namely 'Apna Desh Party'. 2.1 The return of income filed by....
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.... 6.4 During the appellate proceedings, the appellant reiterated that it is a regularly assessed tax-compliant exporter that filed all returns along with the mandatory tax audit report. In response to the notice under section 148, it revised the return to include the political donation of Rs. 1,00,000 as taxable income and paid tax and interest thereon before the reassessment was completed. The addition was not disputed to maintain peace with the department despite the donation being genuine. The appellant argued that no concealment or misrepresentation existed because the donation details were already disclosed in the return, supported by a receipt and bank evidence. The AO, it maintained, carried out no independent verification or pro....
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....he donation claim to be part of a bogus donation racket that came to light only through investigative action. 6.6 Regarding the appellant's argument that there was no underreporting since the reassessment accepted the returned income, the AO's position justifies penalty because the revised disclosure arose only after detection through external investigation. The voluntary offer was not truly voluntary but a post-detection rectification. Under section 270A(9) (a), this qualifies as misreporting due to misrepresentation of facts. The claim under section 80GGC in the original return constituted an inaccurate statement of income, irrespective of later withdrawal. 6.6.1 On the contention that the donation was genuine an....
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....sponse to sec 148 of the Act and there is no "variation" between the returned income and assessed income in the reassessment proceedings; hence, Section 270A is not triggered; Further the Ld. Counsel for the assessee also submitted that the notice issued u/s 270A of the Act is defective and vague, failing to specify the exact limb of "misreporting" under Section 270A(9), thereby violating the principles of natural justice, the notice itself is liable to be quashed. In support thereof the Ld. Counsel relied in the following judicial decisions: i. ACIT Vs Anuj Prakash Gupta ITA No. 11/RPR/2026 dated 05.02.2026. ii. Shri Deepak Mittal Vs. ACIT, Circle 1(1), ITA No. 393/Vizag/2014. iii. PCIT Vs. Gragerious Projects Pv....
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....of the assessee that he voluntary withdrawn the deduction claimed in regular return of income is also not justified because even during the proceedings u/s 148A of the Act, the Assessee initially defended the claim and did not accept for withdrawal of deduction of section 80GGC and submitted the claim to be genuine despite the ld AO brought the facts emerged in the course of search in the case of political party. Thus offering the income in response to return filed u/s 148 of the Act cannot be treated as voluntarily nature. Further the argument of "peace of mind" for offering the income does not negate the fact that the initial claim was based on a non-existent transaction. 4.3 The act of claiming a deduction for an accommodation entry i....