The Ahmedabad Bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) condoned a delay of 340 days in filing an appeal considering the inability of the assessee to collect the notice and remanded the matter back to the Assessing Officer (AO) for fresh adjudication.
Govindbhai Atmaram Thakor, (assessee) is an agriculturist and employer of Modern Denim Ltd. The Assessing Officer (AO) observed that the assessee made substantial cash deposits in his bank account during the demonetization period, amounting to Rs. 10,00,500/-. The AO issued a notice to the assessee. The AO noted that the assessee did not file an Income Tax Return (ITR).
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Despite the notices being issued, the assessee did not respond, the AO made an addition of Rs. 18,01,075/- under Section 69A as unexplained money and a further addition of Rs. 84,441 as income from other sources. The assessee challenged the order before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)]. However, the appeal was dismissed by the CIT(A)
Aggrieved by the order, the assessee filed an appeal before ITAT. The counsel for the assessee argued that the assessee was not highly educated or computer-savvy, which prevented him from accessing the Income Tax Portal and responding to the notices.
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The counsel further contended that the delay of 340 days in filing the appeal was due to a genuine mistake, as the assessee was unaware of the assessment proceedings.
On the other hand, the Counsel for the Revenue supported the assessment order and the order of the CIT(A). The counsel sought to dismiss the appeal.
The single-member bench comprising Suchitra Kamble (Judicial Member) observed that the delay in filing the appeal appeared to be genuine. The tribunal also observed that both the AO and CIT(A) had passed ex-parte orders without sufficient details regarding whether the notices were properly served to the assessee.
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Therefore, the tribunal condoned the 340-day delay and remanded the matter back to the AO for fresh adjudication. The Tribunal further directed the AO to verify the evidence submitted by the assessee.
The tribunal also highlighted that AO should provide a proper opportunity for a hearing in accordance with the principles of natural justice. The appeal of the assessee partly allowed for statistical purposes.
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