LAKSHMI NARAYAN,MUMBAI vs. INCOME TAX OFFICER, WARD 16(2)(1), MUMBAI

The only ground raised by the assessee relates to challenging the order of the Ld. CIT(A) in upholding the order of the AO rejecting the application filed by the assessee under Section 154 of the Income Tax Act.

We have heard the counsels for both parties, perused the material placed on record, the judgments cited before us, and the order passed by the Revenue Authorities. From the records, we noticed that the assessee is an employee of Osian's Connoisseurs of Art Private Limited. During Assessment Year 2020-21, the assessee had drawn salary from the company and the company had deducted tax at source to the tune of Rs. 6,76,000/-, but the same was not deposited by the employer.

In the intimation under Section 143(1), credit was not given for the TDS amount of Rs. 6,76,000/-. The assessee moved an application under Section 154 of the Act, and the same was rejected on the ground that the TDS credit was not reflected in Form 26AS and that the assessee had not filed Form 16 and other supporting documents.

Now, the assessee has filed an application for admitting additional evidence under Rule 29 of the Income Tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963 and the same is reproduced herein below:

After hearing the counsels for both the parties, we find that the documents which the assessee now seeks to produce are crucial and relevant for deciding the case and goes to the root of the case. Therefore, while following the principles laid down in the decision of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of Commissioner of Income Tax v. Text Hundred India Pvt. Ltd. ([2013] 351 ITR 57), and also considering the facts of the present case, we allow the application for admitting the additional evidence.

Since we have allowed the application for additional evidence, which needs factual verification at the end of the AO, the matter is restored back to the AO for factual verification. Accordingly, we restore the matter back to the file of the AO to verify as to whether deduction has been claimed by the father of the assessee, and in case the AO is satisfied that the TDS was deducted by the employer of the assessee from salary, then, in that eventuality, the AO is directed to allow the credit of the same to the assessee, as held by the Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat in the case of Gayatri Snehal Rao, 168 Taxmann.com 466, where the Hon'ble High Court held that:

In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee stands allowed for statistical purposes.