TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (7) TMI 2022
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....8/2026, passed under Section 270A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'] for the Assessment year 2019 2020. 2. The Assessee has raised the following grounds of appeal: "1. The Ld. CIT(A) erred in law in upholding the validity of the penalty order passed u/s 270A of the I.T. Act dated 09-01-2026 despite the same being bad in law, null and void. 2. Ld. CIT(A) erred in law and on facts in not allowing the ground of appeal raised by appellant that the Ld. AO(NFAC) had erred in law and assumed improper jurisdiction by not mentioning in the Assessment Order as well as in penalty notices as to under which limb / clause i.e. (a) to (f) of sub section (9) of section 270A of the Act, the penalty procee....
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....023. The Assessing Officer completed the assessment by passing an Assessment Order under Section 147/144 of the Act on 15/03/2025 making disallowance of donation of INR.3,00,000/- claimed under Section 80GGC of the Act. Accordingly, the total income of Assessee was assessed at INR.18,92,370/- as against the returned income of INR.15,92,370/-. Consequent to the aforesaid additions, the penalty proceedings under Section 270A of the Act was imitated for under reporting of income in inconsequence of misreporting. The Assessing Officer vide Penalty Order, dated 23/06/2025, levied the penalty of INR.1,87,200/- under Section 270A of the Act being 200% of the amount of tax payable on income under reported in consequence of misreporting by the Asses....
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....ion 148 to verify the genuineness of the said donation. In the reassessment completed under Section 147 read with Section 144B, the Assessing Officer disallowed the deduction and assessed the total income at Rs.14,75,710, and thereafter levied penalty of Rs.93,600 under Section 270A on the ground that the assessee had under reported income in consequence of misreporting. 4. The contention of the Assessing Officer that the assessee had accepted the addition by not filing an appeal against the disallowance cannot, by itself, be a valid basis for concluding that there was misreporting of income. The mere fact that the assessee chose not to challenge the quantum addition due to the relatively small amount involved and in order to avoid....
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....porting cannot be sustained. At best, the case may fall within the ambit of under-reporting of income, but even that would require the Assessing Officer to establish that the conditions prescribed under Section 270A are satisfied. In the absence of any finding that the assessee deliberately furnished inaccurate particulars or fabricated documents, the higher penalty prescribed for misreporting is not legally tenable. Accordingly, considering that the deduction was claimed transparently in the return of income and that the disallowance was based solely on the Assessing Officer's adverse view regarding its admissibility, the levy of penalty under Section 270A on misreporting of income is unsustainable in law. The penalty of Rs.93,600 is there....