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Facts
The assessee, a company, did not file its original return of income and its case was reopened for non-compliance with statutory notices. The Assessing Officer made additions for unexplained credit card payments and interest income. The CIT(A)/NFAC upheld these additions.
Held
The Tribunal restored the issue to the Assessing Officer for a final opportunity to the assessee to substantiate its case with requisite details, as the assessee claimed to have not filed details before AO but did so before CIT(A)/NFAC.
Key Issues
Whether the assessee was given a proper opportunity to present its case regarding the unexplained credit card payments and if the CIT(A)/NFAC considered all submissions before upholding the AO's addition.
Sections Cited
69A, 115BBE, 56, 139(1), 147, 148, 144, 144B
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, PUNE BENCH “A”, PUNE
Before: SHRI R. K. PANDA & Ms. ASTHA CHANDRA
Assessment year : 2015-16 Mindspace Ventures Limited ITO, Ward-1(1), Pentagaon 2 Level 6, Magarpatta Vs. Aurangabad City, Hadapsar, Pune – 411028 PAN: AAGCM3686H (Appellant) (Respondent) Assessee by : Shri Mahesh Jaju Department by : Shri A D Kulkarni Date of hearing : 27-11-2025 Date of pronouncement : 28-11-2025 O R D E R PER R.K. PANDA, VP:
This appeal filed by the assessee is directed against the order dated 28.03.2025 of the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC, Delhi relating to assessment year 2015-16.
Although a number of grounds have been raised by the assessee, however, these all relate to the order of the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC in upholding the addition of Rs.2,68,07,425/- made by the Assessing Officer u/s 69A r.w.s. 115BBE of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) and Rs.3,66,957/- u/s 56 of the Act.
Facts of the case, in brief, are that the assessee is a company and did not file its original return of income u/s 139(1) of the Act for the impugned assessment year. The case of the assessee was reopened as per provisions of section 147 of the Act and notice u/s 148 of the Act was issued on 15.04.2021. The case was reopened for the reason that the assessee has paid Rs.2,68,07,425/- towards credit card bills and has earned interest income of Rs.3,66,957/-. Since there was non- compliance to the various statutory notices issued by the Assessing Officer, he proceeded to complete the assessment u/s 144 of the Act and accordingly in the order passed u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 r.w.s. 144B of the Act on 22.05.2023 determined the total income of the assessee at Rs.2,71,74,380/-.
In appeal the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC upheld the action of the Assessing Officer by observing as under:
Aggrieved with such order of the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC, the assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal.
The Ld. Counsel for the assessee submitted that the assessee company was holding two corporate credit cards with SBI Cards and Payments Services Ltd. The limit of these cards was Rs.50 lakhs and Rs.10 lakhs respectively and the cards were operated through the authorized persons Shri Sunil Patel and Smt. Aparna Chandole which were operative from 01.10.2014 to 31.03.2015. He submitted that during the financial year 2014-15 an amount of Rs.2,68,07,425/- was transferred from the company account with SBI to these two credit cards from time to time. He submitted that during the course of assessment proceedings the assessee could not submit the details before the Assessing Officer, however, before the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC the assessee filed all the details along with Annexure A to G. However, the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC without considering the submissions has passed the order dismissing the appeal of the assessee. He submitted that given an opportunity the assessee is in a position to substantiate its case by producing all the relevant details before the Assessing Officer.
The Ld. DR on the other hand supporting the order of the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC.
We have heard the rival arguments made by both the sides, perused the orders of the Assessing Officer and the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC and the paper book filed on behalf of the assessee. It is an admitted fact that due to non-compliance to the various statutory notices issued by the Assessing Officer, he completed the assessment u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 r.w.s. 144B of the Act determining the total income of the assessee at Rs.2,71,74,380/-. We find the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC sustained both the additions made by the Assessing Officer, the reasons of which have already been reproduced in the preceding paragraphs. It is the submission of the Ld. Counsel for the assessee that although he has not filed any details before the Assessing Officer, however, he has filed all the details before the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC and the Ld. CIT(A) / NFAC without considering the submissions dismissed the appeal filed by the assessee which is not justified. It is also his submission that given an opportunity, the assessee is in a position to explain the source of deposits by filing the requisite details to the satisfaction of the Assessing Officer. Considering the totality of the facts of the case and in the interest of justice, we deem it proper to restore the issue to the file of the Assessing Officer with a direction to grant one final opportunity to the assessee to substantiate his case and decide the issue in accordance with law after providing due opportunity of being heard to the assessee. The assessee is also hereby directed to submit the requisite details before the Assessing Officer on the appointed date without seeking any adjournment under any pretext, failing which the Assessing Officer is at liberty to pass appropriate order as per law. We hold and direct accordingly. The grounds raised by the assessee are accordingly allowed for statistical purposes.
In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced in the open Court on 28th November, 2025.