Home Case Index All Cases Income Tax Income Tax + AT Income Tax - 2014 (10) TMI AT This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2014 (10) TMI 153 - ITAT DELHILevy of penalty @ 100% of the tax sought to be evaded u/s 271(1)(c) – Held that:- During the accounting year relevant to the assessment year under consideration, Shri Naresh Jain had given the gift to the assessee and to Shri Namit Jain, minor son of the assessee - the assessee would be said to have furnished inaccurate particulars of income if the details supplied by the assessee in the return were found to be incorrect or erroneous or false - The first ground why the gift was not accepted by the AO was that the gift was given without any occasion - merely because the gift was given without any occasion would not be sufficient to hold that the gift is not genuine - It may be only one of the circumstances while considering the genuineness of the gift - The second reason given by the Assessing Officer was that the gift was given without natural love and affection - the donors are close family friends and it cannot be said that natural love and affection remains only between blood relations and not between the friends - There is no salary income from the assessee or no business income from any business in which assessee is also connected - one family giving gift to another family year after year, it can be said to be against human probabilities, but that may not be sufficient to hold the assessee guilty of concealment of income or furnishing of inaccurate particulars. If the details supplied by the assessee in the return of income are found to be incorrect, erroneous or false, then only it can be said that the assessee has furnished inaccurate particulars of income so as to make him liable for penalty u/s 271(1)(c) of the Act - the copy of the income tax returns of the donors and the statements of the donors, the AO has not pointed out any of the details furnished by the assessee to be incorrect, erroneous or false - The AO has not accepted the gift by doubting the creditworthiness of the donors and the genuineness of the transactions. So far as Assessing Officer’s finding that the capacity of the donors is not proved is concerned, that finding was factually incorrect and probably has been arrived at by the AO without properly appreciating the details of the donors furnished before him by the donors themselves, in the form of their income tax returns, which clearly establishes their creditworthiness - The sound financial capacity of the donors was proved from their income tax record - So far as the genuineness of the transactions is concerned, the AO has doubted the genuineness of the gifts on the ground of human probabilities - what is humanly probable is certainly a matter of opinion and, therefore, the denial of the acceptance of gifts in the assessment proceedings on the basis of human probability may be justified, but, the same cannot the basis for the purpose of levying penalty u/s 271(1)(c), specially when there are overwhelming documentary evidences in support of the genuineness of the gifts which is further fortified by the statements of the donors - the assessee cannot be said to have furnished inaccurate particulars of income or have concealed the income so as to make him liable for penalty u/s 271(1)(c) of the Act - CIT(A) was not justified in sustaining the penalty at 100% of the tax sought to be evaded – Decided in favour of assessee.
|