The Kerala High Court directed to Income Tax Returns (ITR) as there was non-filing of the income tax returns on bonafide belief of the exemption under Section 80P of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The present writ petitions have been filed impugning the notices issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act 1961 and further proceedings taken pursuant to the notices issued for the Assessment Year 2019-20.
The petitioners, The Muvattupuzha Housing Co-operative Society Ltd, is a Co-operative Society registered under the provisions of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act 1969 and Rules made thereunder. The petitioners did not file the return of their income for the Assessment Year 2019-20 on the belief that the petitioners’ entire income was exempt under Section 80P of the Income Tax Act, and, therefore, they were not required to file the return of their income.
The assessing authority believed that the petitioners have concealed their income and tried to escape the assessment. The petitioners were therefore issued notices under Section 148A, and after considering their response, the orders were passed for proceeding against them. In response to the orders passed under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, the petitioners have not filed their return of income.
The Counsel for the petitioners submitted that these petitions may be disposed of with liberty to the petitioners to file the return of income and take all the pleas which are available to them under the law in respect of their claim for their income being jumped under Section 80P of the Income Tax Act.
A Single Bench comprising observed that “The present writ petitions are disposed of with liberty to the petitioners to file returns of their income within a period of one month from today. If the petitioners file their return of income within a period of one month from today, the assessing authority will examine the return in accordance with the law and pass the final assessment orders expeditiously.”
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