2014 (7) TMI 1222 - AT - Income Tax

Addition on gift received - Held that - Four of the donors appeared before the Assessing Officer in the remand proceedings and confirmed that they had given the gifts and some of the gifts were by cheque. Further a perusal of the assessment order as also that of the ld. CIT(Appeals) shows that the donors are all income-tax assessees and they have all filed their returns and have accepted giving gifts to the assessee. Admittedly the assessee has proved the identity of the donors as has been accepted by the Assessing Officer in his assessment order. The Assessing Officer is only doubting the creditworthiness of the donors and the genuineness of the gifts. The donors themselves having confirmed that they have given the gifts and having shown that they are income-tax assessees and having filed their returns of income clearly show their creditworthy. Thus we are of the view that the addition as made by the Assessing Officer and confirmed by the ld. CIT(Appeals) representing the gifts received by the assessee is liable to be deleted and we do so. - Decided in favour of assessee Addition on low drawings - Held that - As noticed that the assessee is 71 years old person. He is staying with his son. No expenditure has been found in the hands of the assessee, which has remained unexplained. This being so, no ad hoc disallowance under the head drawings can be made in the hands of the assessee. In these circumstances, the addition as made by the Assessing Officer and as reduced by the ld. CIT(Appeals) on account of drawings stands deleted.- Decided in favour of assessee

Summary

Issues:
1. Validity of lower authorities' orders
2. Addition of gift amount received by the assessee
3. Computation of capital gain
4. Estimation of monthly expenses

Validity of Lower Authorities' Orders:
The appeal was filed against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) for the assessment year 2004-05. The assessee raised concerns about the arbitrariness, lack of proper reasons, and invalidity of the lower authorities' orders. During the hearing, the assessee chose not to press Ground No. 3, leading to its dismissal.

Addition of Gift Amount Received by the Assessee:
The key issue revolved around the addition of Rs. 10,00,000 received by the assessee as gifts from various individuals. The Assessing Officer doubted the genuineness of the gifts due to the substantial capital of the assessee compared to the donors. However, the donors appeared before the Assessing Officer, confirmed the gifts, and provided necessary evidence, including income tax returns, to prove their identity and creditworthiness. The ld. CIT(Appeals) directed a re-examination of the donors, and upon confirmation in the remand proceedings, the genuineness of the transactions was established. The Tribunal held that the addition made by the Assessing Officer and confirmed by the ld. CIT(Appeals) regarding the gifts received by the assessee should be deleted.

Computation of Capital Gain:
The issue related to the computation of capital gain concerning the value adopted by the Stamp Valuation Authority despite the assessee investing the full sale consideration in an exempted asset under section 54EC of the Income Tax Act, 1961. However, this issue was not pressed by the assessee during the hearing.

Estimation of Monthly Expenses:
Regarding the estimation of monthly expenses and the addition of Rs. 43,000 on account of low drawings, the assessee argued that there was no provision for such an addition as they had adequate drawings for household expenses. The Assessing Officer did not find any specific expenditure exceeding the claimed drawings. The Tribunal noted that no unexplained expenditure was found in the hands of the assessee, leading to the deletion of the addition made under the head of "drawings."

In conclusion, the Tribunal partially allowed the appeal of the assessee, deleting the additions related to the gift amount received and the estimated monthly expenses. The judgment was pronounced on 17th July 2014 by the Appellate Tribunal ITAT Kolkata.