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Facts
The assessee, a co-operative society, filed its return of income which was processed and selected for scrutiny. Various notices were issued, and the AO proposed to deny deduction u/s 80P(2)(a)(i). The AO made an assessment u/s 143(3).
Held
The Tribunal held that the assessee was not given a proper opportunity by the CIT(A) due to incorrect email communication of hearing notices. Therefore, the order of the CIT(A) was set aside.
Key Issues
Whether the assessee was afforded a proper opportunity of being heard by the CIT(A) when hearing notices were sent to an incorrect email address, leading to an ex parte assessment.
Sections Cited
143(1), 143(2), 142(1), 80P(2)(a)(i), 143(3), 250
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, “B” BENCH : BANGALORE
Before: SHRI LAXMI PRASAD SAHU & SHRI SOUNDARARAJAN K.
Assessment year : 2020-21 Vijaya Credit Co-operative Society Limited, The Income Tax Officer, Bantara Bhawana Building, Vs. Ward 1, Guruvayanakere, Belthangady Taluk, Puttur. Dakshina Kannada. 574 217. PAN: AAAJV 0583D APPELLANT RESPONDENT Appellant by : Shri Tharun Kothari, CA Respondent by : Shri Swaroop Mannava, Addl.CIT(DR)(ITAT), Bengaluru. Date of hearing : 05.08.2025 Date of Pronouncement : 20.08.2025 O R D E R
Per Soundararajan K, Judicial Member
This appeal of the assessee is filed challenging the order of the ld. CIT(Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre, Delhi (NFAC) dated 23.10.2024 in respect of assessment year 2020-21.
The brief facts are that the assessee is a co-operative society registered under the provisions of Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act. The assessee filed return of income on 15.01.2021 declaring an income of Rs.25,80,940. Thereafter return was processed u/s. 143(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [the Act] by the CPC. The return was selected for complete scrutiny. Various notices u/s. 143(2) and 142(1) were issued to the assessee seeking particulars of high liability as compared to low income, large receipts, large amount allowable as deduction, etc. The assessee filed the reply to all the notices issued from time to time. Thereafter the AO issued a show cause notice proposing to deny the deduction claimed u/s. 80P(2)(a)(i) of the Act on the ground that assessee is also having associate/nominal members. The assessee also replied to the show cause notice, but the AO has not accepted the said reply and made assessment u/s. 143(3) of the Act.
As against the said order, the assessee filed an appeal before the ld. CIT(A). During the course of appellate proceedings, several notices u/s. 250 were issued to the assessee, but the assessee had not responded to any of the notices and therefore the ld. CIT(A) had dismissed the appeal ex parte. As against the said order, the assessee is in appeal before this Tribunal.
At the time of hearing, the ld. AR submitted that the hearing notices were not received by the assessee and therefore not appeared before the ld. CIT(A). The ld. AR also furnished a copy of the notices issued by the ld. CIT(A) and pointed out that the notices were sent to a different email id – ceovcc@gmail.com, whereas the assessee’s email id as seen from the profile is vijayacreditao@gmail.com . The screenshot of the profile of the assessee filed by the ld. AR also shows the same email id. The ld. CIT(A) had mistakenly sent the hearing notices to email id – ceovcc@gmail.com which does not relate to the assessee. Therefore, the argument advanced by the ld. AR that no proper opportunity was granted by the ld. CIT(A) could not be rejected. Further in respect of AY 2018-19, this Tribunal in on similar facts had set aside the order of the ld. CIT(A) and remitted the issue to the file of CIT(A) to decide the issue afresh. In such circumstances, we also remit this issue to the file of the ld. CIT(Appeals) and direct him to decide the issue afresh, after hearing the assessee. We also direct the ld. CIT(A) to communicate the hearing notices to the assessee’s email id mentioned in Form 35 and thereafter proceed to dispose of the appeal.
In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Pronounced in the open court on this 20th day of August, 2025.