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Facts
The assessee filed its return of income for AY 2017-18, but did not respond to notices after its case was selected under CASS, leading to an ex-parte assessment under section 144. The CIT(A) dismissed the subsequent appeal, prompting the assessee to file the present appeal before the ITAT.
Held
The Tribunal, noting that while opportunities were provided, the assessee should be given another chance to be heard, decided to restore the matter to the Assessing Officer for de novo adjudication. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes.
Key Issues
Whether the ex-parte assessment and appeal dismissal were justified due to the assessee's non-compliance, and if the case should be remanded for fresh adjudication after providing adequate opportunity of being heard.
Sections Cited
144
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, DELHI BENCH ‘G’: NEW DELHI
(ASSESSMENT YEAR 2017-18) Nijhawan Travel Service Income Tax Officer Pvt. Ltd., Ward-18(3), F-53, Bhagat Singh Vs. New Delhi-110002 Market, New Delhi-110001 PAN:AAACN0150D (Appellant) (Respondent) Assessee by Shri A.K. Srivastava, CA Respondent by Shri Amit Shukla, Sr. DR Date of Hearing 24/10/2024 Date of Pronouncement 12 /11/2024 O R D E R
PER VIMAL KUMAR,JM:
The appeal of the Assessee is against order dated 15/02/2024 of the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi, passed by Learned Commissioner of Income Tax(Appeals), Delhi [hereinafter referred to as ‘Ld. CIT(A)’] arising out of Assessment Order dated 24/12/2019 of Income Tax Officer, Ward-18(3), Delhi [hereinafter referred to as “Ld. AO”] for the Assessment Year 2017-18.
Brief facts of the case are that appellant/assessee company filed its return of income for Assessment Year 2017-18 on 28/10/2017 declaring income of Rs.2,67,490/-. The case was selected under CASS and necessary notices were issued to the assessee. The assessee did not respond to any of the notices. Therefore, Ld. AO finalized assessment proceedings ex-parte vide order dated 24/12/2019 u/s 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred as ‘the Act).
Appellant/assessee preferred appeal before Ld. CIT(A) which was dismissed vide order dated 15/02/2024.
Being aggrieved, appellant/assessee preferred present appeal. 5. At the time of hearing, Learned Counsel for the appellant/assessee submitted that Ld. A.O. and Ld. CIT(A) passed ex-parte order without providing adequate opportunity of being heard to the assessee. Ld. Counsel for the assessee prayed that the matter may be restored to the file of the Ld. A.O. 6. The Learned Departmental Representative submitted that assessee failed to comply with notices.
Considered the rival submissions and material placed on record, on a perusal of the orders of Ld. AO and Ld.CIT(A), we find that even though the Ld. AO and Ld.CIT(A) provided opportunity on Page2 several occasions but assessee could not appear or utilize the Nijhawan Travel Service Pvt. Ltd. vs. ITO opportunities. Considering the totality of facts and submissions of the Ld. Assessee’s representative and keeping in view the additions/disallowance made by the Assessing Officer, we are of the opinion that assessee should be given one more opportunity of being heard. Hence, the matter is restored to the file of Ld. AO for de novo adjudication in accordance with law.
In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced on 12th November, 2024.