In Hareram Koley v. ITO, the Kolkata ITAT ruled that the defects committed by the assessee at the time of filing returns cannot be corrected through the appeal since it is not the proper remedy for the same. While dismissing the appeal filed by the assessee against the order of the first appellate authority, the division bench clarified that Reassessment under sections 147/148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 can be used only for the benefit of the Revenue and not for the asessee.
The assessee, an individual, filed his return of income for the year under consideration showing his residential status as “resident” and offered his entire global income to tax. The same was duly accepted by the AO as per intimation u/s 143(1). After that the assessee came to know that he actually belongs to the category of ‘non-resident’ and he is liable to pay tax only for the income he earned in India. Therefore, he filed an appeal against the intimation before the first appellate authority seeking a direction to the AO to initiate the re-assessment proceedings. However, the CIT(A) dismissed the appeal by holding that there is no cause of grievance to the assessee on account of any act ion of the A.O.
Concurring with the findings of the first appellate authority, the division bench held noted that “As rightly submitted by the ld. D.R. in this regard, when the income declared by the assessee in his return of income was accepted by the Assessing Officer vide an intimation issued under section 143(3), he could not be said to be aggrieved by the said appeal so as to give him a right to file an appeal before the ld. CIT(Appeals). Moreover, the prayer made by the assessee in the said appeal to the ld. CIT(Appeals) for directing the Assessing Officer to issue notice under section 147/148 in order to enable the assessee to declare the correct income, was also not tenable as the ld. CIT(Appeals) was not empowered to do so and the provisions of section 147/148 even otherwise are for the benefit of the Revenue and not for the benefit of the assessee. If there was any mistake on the part of the assessee in filing his return of income, which was duly accepted by the Assessing Officer under section 143(1), the filing of appeal before the ld. CIT(Appeals) was not the proper remedy to correct the same.”
Read the full text of the order below.
