BOLAVAR VANITHA,MYSURU vs. INCOME TAX OFFICER - WARD 1(1), MYSURU

The brief facts of the case are that the assessee is an individual and her case was selected for scrutiny due to the large transactions done by her. Notice u/s. 148A(b) and order u/s. 148A(d) was issued on 23/03/2024. Simultaneously, notice u/s. 148 was also issued on 23/03/2024. Thereafter the assessee filed a return of income on 29/06/2024. During the assessment proceedings, the assessee participated and gave her explanations for the cash deposits made into her bank account. The AO

As against the said rejection order, present appeal has been filed by the assessee.

At the time of hearing, the Ld.AR submitted that the assessee is a housewife and she deposited cash into her bank account for transmitting it into his son’s education expenses at USA. The source for the said cash deposits are from the withdrawals of cash by her husband, mother-in-law and her father and therefore the said deposits could not be treated as unexplained money u/s. 69A of the Act. The Ld.AR also submitted that the assessee was in USA between 30/10/2024 to 15/01/2025 and therefore submitted that the order dated 23/12/2024 was not in her knowledge and therefore only after her return from USA, the assessee contacted the authorized representative and the appeal was filed with a delay of 72 days. The Ld.AR also submitted that till the Chartered Accountant had verified the portal of the department, the assessee came to know about the assessment order, that too passed while she was in USA and therefore prayed that a lenient view may be taken up. The Ld.AR further submitted that in spite of the said application and also the other supporting documents, the Ld.CIT(A) had not considered the said reasons as a sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal in time and therefore dismiss the appeal as time barred which is not correct.

The Ld.DR submitted that even though the assessment order was dated 23/12/2024 and communicated to the assessee on same date through online, the assessee had not taken any steps until the period for

We have heard the arguments of both sides and perused the materials available on record.

We have gone through the assessment order as well as the delay condonation application filed by the assessee. The assessee had participated in the assessment proceedings and also explained the source for the cash deposit made in the bank account which was not accepted by the AO. The authorities had not disputed the fact that the assessee is a housewife and she has no other source to earn. Further, the assessee had explained the source for the cash deposits and the reasons for the said cash deposits by producing the relevant materials before the AO. The main reason adduced by the assessee is that her son is pursuing his Masters Degree in USA for which the university fees as well as the expenses for his stay in USA has to be necessarily sent through RTGS directly to the university as well as to her son. The assessee had also satisfied that the RTGS were sent to the university in which their son was studying at that point of time. The assessee had also produced the evidences to show that her husband is working in the open university and withdraw monies from his bank account and the said amount was credited into her bank account for onward transmission to USA. Similarly, the gifts from her mother-in-law as well as her father were also explained. The AO had not believed the explanations for the reason that the credit worthiness of the persons who has given money to the assessee was not proved by the assessee. Therefore the assessment was made by making the addition u/s. 69A of the Act.

The assessee had disputed the said additions but unfortunately her appeal could not be decided on merits but the said appeal was rejected on the ground of limitation. In the said application to condone the said delay, the assessee had explained the facts and submitted that she returned back from USA on 15/01/2025 and it is not possible for every assessee to file the appeal immediately after the return from USA. Normally, it will take some

We therefore, inclined to condone the delay of 72 days in filing the appeal before the Ld.CIT(A) and remit this issue to the file of Ld.CIT(A) for denovo consideration.

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