The Ahmedabad bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ( ITAT ), in the case of Anantrai Vithalbhai Parmer, remanded the case back to the assessing officer ( AO ) for fresh assessment for the assessment year (AY) 2017-18.
The assessee, Anantrai Vithalbhai Parmer, had deposited ₹12 lakhs in cash in his bank account with the Bank of Baroda during the demonetisation period from November 9 2016 to December 31 2016. The assessee, however, failed to file his return of income as required under Section 139 of the Income Tax Act. A notice per Section 142(1) was issued to the assessee but received no response.
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Due to the non-compliance of the assessee, the AO passed an ex-parte assessment order under Section 144 of the Act and made an addition of ₹44 lakhs under Section 69A of the Income Tax Act for unexplained income. Aggrieved by the addition made by the AO, the assessee filed an appeal to the CIT(A), where the appeal was dismissed by the commissioner, upholding the AO’s order. Due to the assessee’s non-compliance, the CIT(A) ex-parte also passed such an order.
In an appeal to the ITAT, the authorised representative (AR) for the assessee asserted that the AO and CIT(A) have passed an ex-parte order as the assessee is not well-versed with statutory notices of the Income Tax Act. The AR requested that the matter be returned to the AO’s file for proper verification and adjudication of the issues as per the Income Tax Act.
The departmental representative (DR) submitted that the CIT(A) and the AO had given the assessee ample time and opportunities for compliance. Still, it was the negligence of the assessee that he had not filed his taxes or responded to any of the notices sent to him.
On hearing both parties, the ITAT held that the assessee was an individual who was not well-versed with the income tax notions as stated in his submissions before the authorities, and this was observed to be ample reason why he had not filed the required replies to both the authorities.
Comprehensive Guide of Law and Procedure for Filing of Income Tax Appeals, Click Here
The tribunal consisting of Suchitra Kamble, the judicial member, observed that the reason given by the assessee for non-representing his case appears to be done in good faith and that the tribunal finds it fit to remand the case back to the file of the assessing officer for proper adjudication of the issues, after taking cognisance of the evidence filed by the assessee before the AO. As a result, the appeal was partly allowed.
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