TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (8) TMI 1348
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... is against the application of the special rate of tax prescribed under section 115BBE to the amount of Rs.6,25,000, which had been surrendered during the course of survey and was duly offered to tax by the assessee in the return of income. 2. The relevant facts are that the assessee is an individual engaged in the business of retail trading of medicines and also derives income from operation of a sonography machine. A survey under section 133A was carried out at the business premises of the assessee on 20.09.2016, during the course of which an amount of Rs.6,25,000 was surrendered. The assessee thereafter filed his return of income declaring total income of Rs.14,81,960, which included the aforesaid surrendered amount of Rs.6,25,000. Du....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....act source of the surrendered income, the deeming provisions would apply; and merely because the Ld. AO had not specified whether the income was covered by section 68, 69, 69A, 69B, 69C or 69D, it would not take the amount outside the ambit of section 115BBE. On this reasoning, the action of the Ld. AO was upheld. 4. We have heard the rival submissions and perused the material placed before us. The issue which requires our consideration is whether an amount already offered by the assessee in the return of income can be subjected to the special rate prescribed under section 115BBE merely because it had been surrendered during survey, without first recording a finding that such income is one falling within any of the specific deeming provi....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....within the statutory fold of sections 68 to 69D. The official text of the provision itself describes its subject as tax on income referred to in those specified sections. 6. We are also unable to subscribe to the reasoning adopted by the Ld. CIT(A) that, since according to him the exact source of the income remained unexplained, the deeming provisions would automatically apply even though no particular provision amongst sections 68 to 69D had been invoked by the Ld. AO. Each of these provisions operates in a defined statutory field and contains its own foundational requirements. Section 68 concerns unexplained credits in the books; section 69 deals with unexplained investments; section 69A concerns unexplained money, bullion, jewellery o....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....erence to the substantive provision under which it is assessable and not merely by the expression used while making a surrender. 8. In fact, the reasoning of the Ld. CIT(A) that it was "not possible to attribute a specific section" amongst sections 68/69/69A/69B/69C/69D to the surrendered income, far from supporting the application of section 115BBE, militates against it. Once it is accepted that the income has not been found to fall within any identified provision amongst sections 68 to 69D, the indispensable statutory foundation for invoking section 115BBE remains absent. There cannot be a deemed or presumptive application of section 115BBE merely because the source of a surrendered amount is perceived to be insufficiently explained. T....