2013 (12) TMI 1633 - AT - Income Tax

Summary

Issues involved: The appeal challenges the order of the Ld. CIT(A)-I, Pune dated 15-06-2012 for the A.Y. 2009-10, specifically regarding the treatment of the assessee's income as agricultural income u/s. 2(1A)(b)(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the exclusion of said income u/s. 10(1) of the Act.

Summary:
The assessee company engaged in plant floriculture, tissue culture, and horticulture activities, claiming the income derived as agricultural income and seeking exemption u/s. 10(1) of the Income-tax Act for A.Y. 2009-10. The Assessing Officer, despite a previous favorable decision by the ITAT, Pune, declined to follow the order due to an appeal filed by the Department to the High Court u/s. 260A. The Ld. CIT(A) referred to the ITAT decision in the assessee's own case for A.Y. 2004-05 and allowed the claim, leading to the Revenue's appeal.

The Tribunal found that the issue had been previously decided in favor of the assessee by the ITAT, Pune in various years, including A.Y. 2004-05 and 2007-08. The Tribunal upheld the decision based on detailed reasoning and legal precedents, concluding that the income from the agricultural operations should be treated as agricultural income u/s. 2(1A)(b)(i) of the Act and excluded from total income u/s. 10(1). The Tribunal confirmed the Ld. CIT(A)'s order based on consistency with previous decisions in the assessee's case.

Given the consistent decisions in the assessee's favor by the Tribunal in previous years, the Tribunal dismissed the Revenue's appeal for the current A.Y. 2009-10, upholding the order of the Ld. CIT(A) regarding the treatment of income as agricultural income and the exemption u/s. 10(1) of the Act.

Therefore, the Revenue's appeal was dismissed, and the order of the Ld. CIT(A) was confirmed based on the Tribunal's previous decisions in the assessee's case, establishing the income derived from agricultural activities as qualifying for exemption under the relevant sections of the Income-tax Act.