RATULIA SAMABAY KRISHI UNNYAN SAMITI LTD.,EAST MEDINIPUR vs. I.T.O., WARD - 27(3), HALDIA

Shri Subash Agarwal & Shilpi Mukherjee, ld.ARs appeared on behalf of the assessee and Shri Somnath Das Biswas, ld. Sr. DR appeared on behalf of the revenue.

It was the submission of the ld.AR that the only issue in the assessee’s appeal was against the denial of deduction u/s.80P of the Act in the intimation u/s.143(1) of the Act. It was the submission that the said deduction has been denied to the assessee only on the ground that the return filed by the assessee was beyond the due date. It was the submission that the ld. CIT(A) has confirmed the intimation. It was the submission that the issue is now squarely covered by the decision of the coordinate bench of the Tribunal in the case of Durgamondap Samabay Krishi Unnayn Samiti Ltd., passed in vide order dated 24.07.2024, wherein in para 3 to 6.4 the Tribunal has held as under:- 3. We have considered the rival submissions and also gone through the documents on record. For the sake of reference, the provisions of Section 143(1)(a)(v) of the Act as they stood prior to amendment, and relevant for the assessment year under consideration are as under: "v) disallowance of deduction claimed under sections 10AA, 80-IA, 80-1AB, 80-IB, 80-IC, 80-ID or section 80-IE, if the return is furnished beyond the due date specified under sub-section (1) of section 139; or" 3.1. Thereafter, with effect from 01.04.2021 the amended provisions read as under: "(v) disallowance of deduction claimed under 98[section 10AA or under any of the provisions of Chapter VI-A (emphasis added) under the heading "C.--Deductions in respect of certain incomes", if] the return is furnished beyond the due date specified under sub-section (1) of section 139; or" 3.2. Furthermore, Section 80AC of the Act reads as under: "[Deduction not to be allowed unless return furnished. 80AC. Where in computing the total income of an assessee of any previous year relevant to the assessment year commencing on or after— (i) the 1st day of April, 2006 but before the 1st day of April, 2018, any deduction is admissible under section 80- IA or section 80-IAB or section 80- IB or section 80-IC or section 80-ID or section 80-IE; (ii) the 1st day of April, 2018, any deduction is admissible under any provision of this Chapter under the heading "C. --Deductions in respect of certain incomes", no such deduction shall be allowed to him unless he furnishes a return of his income for such assessment year on or before the due date specified under sub-section (1) of section 139.]" 3.3. A careful perusal of the said Sections reveals that Section 143(1)(a) of the Act has been designed as a complete code in itself and lays down the mandate for any Assessing Officer undertaking processing of return of income under this Section. Section 80AC of the Act is clearly outside of the purview of Section 143(1)(a) of the Act and would come into play in case of assessment order was being framed u/s 143(3) of the Act. In fact, this interpretation is strengthened by the judgment of Hon'ble Kerala High Court in the case of Nileshwar Rangekallu Chethu Vyavasaya Thozhilali Sahakarana Sangham vs. CIT reported in [2023] 152 taxmann.com 347 (Kerala). The head notes are extracted for ready reference: "Section 80P, read with sections 80A and 80AC, of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - Income of co-operative societies (Belated return) - Assessment years 2009-10 and 2010-11 - Assessee- society, engaged in financing and social welfare of toddy tappers/workers, had claimed deduction under section 80P - Assessing Officer made disallowance under section 80P(2)(a)(vi) since assessee's returns were filed much beyond date for filing prescribed under section 139 and even under section 148 - On reading sections 80A(5) and 80AC as they stood prior to 1-4-2018, it was noted that statutory scheme under Act was to admit only such claims for deduction under section 80P as were made by assessee in return of income filed by him - However, after 1-4-2018, even if assessee made his claim for deduction under section 80P in a return filed within time under section 139(4), 142(1) or 148, he would not be allowed deduction unless returns so filed was within due date prescribed under section 139(1) - Whether since assessee had filed its return of income after dates prescribed under section 139(1), returns were indeed non-est and could not be acted upon by Assessing Officer even if they were filed before completion of assessment - Held, yes - Whether, since assessee failed to fulfil pre-condition prescribed under section 80P, it was not entitled to benefit of exemption under section 80P(2)(a)(vi) - Held, yes [Paras 11 to 14]" 3.4. Thus, clearly since the processing has been done u/s 143(1)(a) of the Act, where the treatment to be given to items under Chapter VI (which includes Section 80P of the Act) is clearly mentioned then there can be no reason why the provisions of Section 80C of the Act will need to be resorted to for the limited purposes of processing of return. At the expense of repetition, it needs to mentioned that Section 80P of the Act was introduced for the purposes of Section 143(1)(a)(v) of the Act only with effect from 01.04.2021. Hence, any prior period return cannot be adversely effected in case it is not filed within the time prescribed u/s 139(1) of the Act. With this discussion, the appellant gets relief and the AO is directed to allow the benefit of Section 80P of the Act to the appellant.