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Facts
The assessee failed to file its return of income for AY 2018-19, leading to a reopening of the case under Section 147. The assessee subsequently filed a return declaring an income of Rs. 2,88,770. Penalty proceedings were initiated under Section 270A, and the assessee applied for immunity under Section 270AA on plain paper after paying the due tax.
Held
The Tribunal held that while the assessee failed to file the specific Form 68 for immunity, they had substantively complied with the conditions for waiver by paying taxes and not contesting the assessment. The Tribunal also noted that the AO did not specify the exact clause for misreporting under Section 270A(9).
Key Issues
Whether penalty under Section 270A can be imposed when the assessee has substantively complied with Section 270AA conditions, despite not filing the prescribed Form 68 for immunity, and whether the AO correctly invoked Section 270A(9) for misreporting.
Sections Cited
250, 147, 144B, 270A, 274, 270AA, 148, 285BA, 44AD, 143, 249, 276C, 276CC, 246, 246A, 264
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, KOLKATA ‘B’ BENCH, KOLKATA
Before: SRI PRADIP KUMAR CHOUBEY & SRI RAKESH MISHRA
order
: January 14th, 2025 ORDER
PER RAKESH MISHRA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER:
This appeal filed by the assessee is against the order of the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-NFAC, Delhi [hereinafter referred to as “the Ld. CIT(A)”] passed u/s 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) for AY 2018-19 dated 27.09.2024, which has been passed against the assessment order u/s 147 read with Section 144B of the Act, dated 23.02.2023.
The assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal raising the following grounds of appeal:
Brief facts of the case are that the case of the assessee was selected on the basis of Rules/parameter thereto approved by the Board under Risk Management System (RMS) for identifying potential cases for action u/s 148 of the Act, where the return of income has not been filed for the relevant assessment year. On perusal of Form No. 61A (Statement of Specified Financial Transactions u/s 285BA(1) of the Act) furnished by the Central Bank of India, it was noticed that the assessee Page 2 of 10 Page 4 of 10 Page 6 of 10 Page 7 of 10 "The mere fact that it is statutory does not matter one way of that other. There are conditions and conditions. Some may be substantive, mandatory and based on considerations of policy and some others may merely belong to the area of procedure. It will be erroneous to attach equal importance to the non -observance of all conditions irrespective of the purposes they were intended to serve.”