NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR URBAN AND RURAL DEV SOCIETY , JAMMU V. INCOE TAX OFFICER WARD- ( EXEMPTIONS), JAMMU

ITA 90/ASR/2023

AI Insights

The case involves the National Council for Urban and Rural Development Society, a charitable society, which appealed against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) NFAC, Delhi. The appeal was initially against the order passed by the Income Tax Officer, Ward Jammu, under section 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for the assessment year 2017-18. The primary contention was that the activities of the appellant, which included receiving contracts amounting to Rs. 41,50,000, were misclassified as non-charitable business activities, leading to an arbitrary profit calculation at 15% by the AO. The CIT(A) upheld the AO's decision, prompting the appeal to the ITAT. The ITAT found that the assessee was denied a fair opportunity to present its case and remitted the matter back to the AO for a fresh assessment.

• Counselvise Citation: [2023] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 115043 (ITAT-AMRITSAR)
• Duration Of Justice: 1 month(s) 24 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 16-05-2023
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: DB
• Next Hearing Date: 09-05-2023
• Assessment Year: 2017-2018
• Appeal Filed On: 22-03-2023
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Keywords: Charitable institution; Set aside
• Section: 144

Judgement Text

IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL AMRITSAR BENCH, AMRITSAR. BEFORE DR. M. L. MEENA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND SH. ANIKESH BANERJEE, JUDICIAL MEMBER I.T.A. No.90/Asr/2023 Assessment Year: 2017-18 National Council for Urban And Rural Dev Society 775, Masjit Basti, Bahu Fort Jammu. [PAN:AAATN7401Q] (Appellant) Vs. ITO,(Exemption) Ward- Jammu. (Respondent) Appellant by None Respondent by Sh. Radhey Shyam Jaiswal, Sr. DR Date of Hearing 10.05.2023 Date of Pronouncement 17.05.2023 ORDER Per:Anikesh Banerjee, JM: The instant appeal of the assessee was filed against the order of the ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) NFAC, Delhi,[in brevity the ‘CIT (A)’] order passed u/s 250of the Income Tax Act 1961[in brevity the ‘Act’], for A.Y. 2017-18.The impugned order was emanated from the order of the ld. Income Tax Officer, Ward Jammu[in brevity the ‘AO’], order passed u/s 144 of the Act. I.T.A. No.90/Asr/2023 Assessment Year: 2017-18 2 2. The assessee has taken the following grounds: - “1. That the order under appeal is against the law and facts of the case. 2. That on the facts and circumstances of the case the Ld. CIT (A) has not been justified in confirming the assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer. 3. That on the facts and circumstances of the case the Ld. CIT (A) has also erred in law in confirming the holding of the Ld. AO that the activities of the appellant were not charitable but normal business activities. 4. That the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in law in confirming the assessment order that the work conducted by the appellant is not covered u/s 2(15) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. 5. That in addition and without prejudice to the above the profit margin @15% is too excessive when in fact there is no profit. 6. That the Ld. CIT(A) has also erred in law in confirming the assessment order passed by the Ld. AO as the tax liability has been determined u/s 115BBC by treating the donations as I.T.A. No.90/Asr/2023 Assessment Year: 2017-18 3 anonymous donations when in fact the identity of the donor is itself mentioned by the Ld. AO in his assessment order. 7. That the appellant has also not been given adjustment of the Tax Deducted at Source of Rs. 83000.00 either by the Ld. CIT(A) or Ld. AO. 8. That the Appellant could not appear/conduct the appeal before the Ld. CIT(A) due to circumstances beyond his control and therefore the appellant craves before the Hon’ble Tribunal that the appellant may kindly be allowed to explain as regards to amount deposited in the bank account. . 9. It is prayed that the Hon’ble Tribunal may kindly be pleased to allow the appellant to amend or file additional/alternate grounds of appeal at the time of hearing.” 3. Brief fact of the case is that the assessee is a charitable society. For this impugned assessment order, the assessment was completed u/s 144 with addition amount of Rs.6,22,500/-. During Financial Year, the assessee’s gross receipt was Rs.71,93,950/-. Out of that the Rs.41,50,000/- was related to contract received. During assessment the ld. AO explained that this contract received amount is not related to Section 2(15) of the Act which is not for charitable purpose. The ld. AO computed the profit @ 15% at Rs.41,50,000/- which works out to Rs.6,22,500/- I.T.A. No.90/Asr/2023 Assessment Year: 2017-18 4 and added back with the total income of the assessee. Being aggrieved assessee filed an appeal before the ld. CIT(A). The ld. CIT(A) upheld the order of the ld.AO and passed ex-parte order. Being aggrieved assessee filed an appeal before us. 4. When the appeal was called for hearing, none was present on behalf of the assessee. No adjournment petition was also filed. Considering, the fact of the case, the appeal is taken for hearing as ex-parte qua for assessee. After the submission of the ld. DR, the matter is adjudicated accordingly. 5. The ld. DR vehemently argued and relied on the orders of revenue authorities. 6. We heard the submission of the ld. DR and considered the orders of the revenue authorities. The assessee is a charitable society. The entire activities are related to charitable purposes. The contract received which was received by the assessee during this financial year amount of Rs.41,50,000/- as related to works contract purpose. But the utilisation of this profit is not discussed by the ld. AO in the assessment order. In fact, the contractual receipt is not under the provision of section 2(15) of the Act. But ld. AO arbitrarily calculated the net profit @ 15% on this contractual receipt which is primarily not accepted by the Bench. The assessee was denied both in assessment and in appeal for production of the documents in favour of its plea. The appeal order was passed without considering the merit of the I.T.A. No.90/Asr/2023 Assessment Year: 2017-18 5 case and without hearing the assessee itself. In our considered view, we find that assessee should get another opportunity for its argument in the assessment proceeding. We remit back the matter to the ld. AO for further adjudication. Needless to say, the assessee should get a reasonable opportunity of hearing and should be allowed to file the documents in the set aside proceeding. 6. In the result, the appeal of the assessee bearing ITA No. 90/Asr/2023 is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in the open court on17.05.2023 Sd/- Sd/- (Dr. M. L. Meena) (ANIKESH BANERJEE ) Accountant Member Judicial Member AKV Copy of the order forwarded to: (1)The Appellant (2) The Respondent (3) The CIT (4) The CIT (Appeals) (5) The DR, I.T.A.T. True Copy By order