THE ACIT.,CIRCLE-2(1)(1), AHMEDABAD vs. GUJARAT STATE FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED., AHMEDABAD

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ITA 433/AHD/2018Status: DisposedITAT Ahmedabad16 October 2019AY 2014-154 pages

In favour of the assessee: the Revenue's appeal was dismissed. From the AI summary of this appeal.

AI SummaryDismissed

What did the Tribunal hold?

The Tribunal held that the appeal filed by the Revenue was not maintainable due to the low tax effect, as per the CBDT circular. The circular was deemed applicable even though the hearing concluded before its issuance, as the order was reserved for pronouncement.

What were the facts?

The Revenue filed an appeal against the CIT(A)'s order deleting a disallowance made under Section 14A. The tax effect of the appeal was less than Rs. 50 lakhs, which is below the monetary limit for filing appeals as per a recent CBDT circular.

What were the issues?

Whether an appeal filed by the Revenue is maintainable before the ITAT when the tax effect is below the prescribed monetary limit set by the CBDT circular, and if the circular applies to appeals heard before its issuance but pronounced thereafter.

Which sections of the Income-tax Act were involved?

Section 14A,Section 143(3),Section 254(2)

AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, “D” BENCH, AHMEDABAD

Before: SHRI WASEEM AHMED & Ms. MADHUMITA ROY

For Respondent: Shri Sanjay R. Shah, AR

आदेश / O R D E R

PER WASEEM AHMED, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER:

1.

The captioned appeal has been filed at the instance of the Revenue against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Ahmedabad-5, [CIT(A) in short] vide appeal no.CIT(A)-5/DCIT Cir.2(1)(1)/10134/2017-18 dated 13/11/2017 arising in the assessment order passed under s.143(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961(hereinafter referred to as "the Act") dated 27/10/2016 relevant to Assessment Year (AY) 2014-15.

The Revenue has raised the following grounds of appeal:-

ACIT vs. Gujarat State Financial Services Ltd. Asst.Year - 2014-15 - 2 -

1. The Ld. CIT(A) has erred in law and on facts in deleting the disallowance of Rs.68,29,540/- made u/s.14A of the Act in respect of interest expenditure? 1.1. The Ld. CIT(A) has failed to appreciate that the onus lies on the assessee to demonstrate that it had interest free funds available with it for making such investment and not other way around. 1.2. The Ld. CIT(A) has failed to appreciate that as per Section 106 of Evidence Act, when any fact is especially within the knowledge of any person, the burden of proving the fact is upon him.

2.

The appellant craves leave to amend or alter any ground or add a new ground, which may be necessary. 2. At the time of dictation, it was noticed that the tax effect in the impugned appeal filed by the Revenue is less than ₹50 lakhs. Therefore, the same is not maintainable in view of the recent circular issued by the CBDT bearing No. 17/2019 dated 8th August 2019. However, we note that the impugned appeal was heard dated 31 July 2019 before the issuance of such circular by the CBDT. But the order after hearing the appeal was reserved for the pronouncement. As the order was not pronounced till 8th August 2019 when CBDT withdrew its appeals pending before the ITAT involving tax effect less than ₹50 lakhs, therefore, we are of the view that the impugned CBDT circular is also applicable in such cases i.e. the hearing was concluded but the orders

ACIT vs. Gujarat State Financial Services Ltd. Asst.Year - 2014-15 - 3 - were reserved for pronouncements till the date of the announcement of such circular.

2.1 The relevant extract of the circular issued dated 8 August 2019 reads as under:

“2. As a step towards further management of litigation. it has been decided by the Board that monetary limits for filing of appeals in income-tax cases be enhanced further through amendment in Para 3 of the Circular mentioned above and accordingly. the table for monetary limits specified in Para 3 of the Circular shall read as follows: S.No. Appeals/SLPs in Income-tax matters Monetary Limit (Rs.) 1 Before Appellate Tribunal 50,00,000 2 Before High Court 1,00,00,000 3 Before Supreme Court 2,00,00,000”

From the above, it is clear that the impugned appeals filed by the Revenue are not maintainable as the tax effect/penalty amount is less than ₹50 lakhs. This fact can also be verified from the grounds of appeal filed by the assessee as mentioned above.

3. Before parting, we also note that there are certain exceptions specified in the CBDT circular bearing No. 17 of 2019 dated 8 August 2019 read with circular No. 3 of 2018 dated 11th July 2018 where the tax limit/ penalty amount of Rs. 50 lakhs will not be applied. As such, in those cases the appeal of the Revenue will stand and the same will not be hit by the impugned circular despite the tax effect is less than ₹50 lakhs. Therefore, we want to make it clear that if the Revenue on the ACIT vs. Gujarat State Financial Services Ltd. Asst.Year - 2014-15 - 4 - verification finds that the impugned case of the assessee falls in the exception as provided in the circular or tax effect exceeds, then it will be at its liberty to move an application for the recalling of this order of the tribunal within the prescribed time under the provisions of section 254(2) of the Act. In view of the above, we dismiss the appeal filed by the Revenue as not maintainable.

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