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Facts
A penalty of Rs. 10,000 was imposed on the assessee under Section 272A(1)(d) for non-compliance with a notice issued under Section 142(1) for AY 2017-18. The assessee, a farmer, contended that he was unaware of the assessment proceedings and notices, as communication was sent to an old email address, and he only learned about the assessment order through his elder brother. The Ld. CIT(A) confirmed the penalty, leading to the present appeal.
Held
The Tribunal found that the assessee's non-compliance with the Section 142(1) notice was not deliberate, given his lack of awareness of the proceedings and the communication being sent to an old email ID. Consequently, the Tribunal deleted the penalty imposed under Section 272A(1)(d) and allowed the assessee's appeal (ITA No. 510/DEL/2024).
Key Issues
Whether the penalty imposed under Section 272A(1)(d) for non-compliance with a notice under Section 142(1) is justified when the assessee was unaware of the proceedings due to improper communication.
Sections Cited
272A(1)(d), 142(1), 148
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, DELHI BENCH: ‘E’ NEW DELHI
Before: SH. PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA & SHRI YOGESH KUMAR U.S.
Assessment Year 2017-18 against the order passed by the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) (‘Ld. CIT(A) for short), Delhi dated 08/12/2023.
“1. That having regards to the facts and circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in confirming the penalty amounting to Rs. 10,000.
That having regards to the facts and circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in not considering submissions given by appellant.
3. That the Ld. CIT(A) has not afforded proper opportunity to the appellant to explain the matter and whole order is arbitrary and against the principles of natural justice.
4. That in any view of the matter and in any case the order under appeal is bad in law and against the circumstances of the case.
5. That the appellant craves leave to add, modify, or delete any of the grounds of appeal at the time of hearing and all the above grounds are without prejudice to each other.”
Brief facts of the case are that, a penalty order dated 23/08/2022 u/s 272A(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘Act’ for short) has been passed by imposing penalty of Rs. 10,000/- for non compliance to statutory notice issued u/s 142(1) of the Act pertaining to Assessment Year 2017-18. As against the order of penalty dated 23/08/2022, the assessee preferred Appeal before the Ld. CIT(A). The Ld. CIT(A) dismissed the Appeal filed by the assessee by confirming the order of the penalty. Aggrieved by the the present Appeal on the grounds mentioned above.
None appeared for the assessee even after issuance of notice by the registry. Considering the issue involved in the present Appeal, we deem it fit to decide the Appeal on hearing the Ld. Departmental Representative and verifying the material available on record.
The Ld. Departmental Representative by relying on the orders of the Lower Authorities sought for dismissal of the Appeal.
We have heard the Ld. Departmental Representative perused the material available on record. The assessee being a farmer lives in village Mujeri-Faridabad, District Haryana, filed his last return or Assessment Year 2014-15 on 04/06/2014. After a lapse of eight years, the A.O. issued notice u/s 148 of the Act on the e-mail id of the person by whom the return of Assessment Year 2014-15 was filed. It is the case of the assessee that the communication for assessment proceedings were not aware to the assessee till the closure of the assessment and the assessee came to know about 25/01/2023. Thus, the assessee could not comply with the notices issued u/s 142(1) of the Act. Considering the above facts and circumstances, we find that compliance of notice u/s 142(1) of the Act was not deliberate, accordingly we delete the penalty imposed u/s 272A(1)(d) of the Act.
In the result, Appeal filed by the assessee in is allowed. same impugned order of the Ld. CIT(A) which in ITA No. is dismissed.
Order pronounced in the open court on 12th AUGUST, 2024.