Non-Mentioning of Valid DIN: ITAT quashes Assessment Order u/S 143 of Income Tax Act [Read Order]

The Delhi bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) nullified the assessment order under Section 143 of the Income Tax Act 1961, citing the non-mentioning of a valid Director Identification Number (DIN).

A search and seizure operation targeted the Bajaj Group and its affiliates on April 20, 2017. The operation uncovered crucial documents and led to statements being recorded. Subsequently, a centralization order under section 127 of the Income Tax Act was issued. Despite the Assessing Officer's satisfaction that the seized documents pertained to appellants-assesses, action under section 153C was initiated. The assesses complied with a notice, declaring incomes. However, the AO, through separate assessments, determined incomes for the assessment year 2015-16 at Rs. 17,99,950/-, Rs. 15,05,040/-, and Rs. 17,56,020/-, respectively.

The counsels for the assesse Ved Jain, & Aman Garg, submitted applications to introduce an additional ground of appeal, citing Circular No. 19/2019 dated 14.8.2019 from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). They claim that the newly raised ground involves a pure question of law, and the foundational facts are already documented in the record.

The counsel for the Revenue H.K. Choudhary  relied on a communication dated September 17, 2019, concerning the introduction of a system-generated document facility, specifically the Intimation Letter, incorporating a Document Identification Number (DIN). This pertained to documents issued outside the system but manually uploaded into the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA).

The two member bench of the tribunal comprising G.S Pannu (Vice President) and Justice C.V. Bhadang (President) observed that All that the communication stated was about the provision of a facility for the generation of Intimation Letters containing Document Identification Number/Document Number (DIN/DN) for documents issued outside the ITBA system but uploaded manually in the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA).

In the result, the Appeals of the Assesses are allowed and the assessment orders are set aside.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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