2011 (5) TMI 817 - HC - Income Tax

Addition u/s.69B of the act - undisclosed investment Assessing Officer treated the seller and buyer on the same footing for making additions referring to higher valuation of property for the purpose of stamp duty Held that - Assessing Officer committed an error in adopting the valuation of the property for the purpose of calculation of stamp duty to come to the conclusion that the assessee had made undisclosed investment. The deeming fiction of Section 50-C could not be applied for ascertaining the undisclosed investment of assessee under Section 69-B of the Act. Even otherwise, assessee had produced on record other material such as sale deeds in the same GIDC estate to compare with price disclosed in the document, no material to show that assessee had received inadequate consideration, Tax Appeal is dismissed

Summary

Issues:
1. Whether the Appellate Tribunal was correct in deleting the addition made under Section 69B of the Income Tax Act?

Analysis:
The case involved an appeal by the Revenue against the Tribunal's decision to delete an addition of Rs.31,01,440 made under Section 69B of the Income Tax Act. The dispute arose from the purchase of a property by the assessee at a price lower than the value assessed by the Stamp Authorities. The Assessing Officer treated the price difference as undisclosed investment by the assessee, invoking Section 69B. The CIT (A) reversed this decision, stating that Section 50C, which deals with valuation of immovable properties, cannot be applied to cases under Section 69B. The Tribunal upheld the CIT (A)'s decision, leading to the Revenue's appeal.

Upon review, the High Court found no error in the decisions of the CIT (A) and the Tribunal. Section 50C establishes a deeming provision for computing capital gains in property transactions where the Stamp Valuation Authority's valuation exceeds the transaction price. However, this provision is specific and cannot be extended to determine undisclosed investments under Section 69B. The Assessing Officer erred in using Section 50C to conclude undisclosed investment by the assessee. Additionally, the assessee provided evidence, such as sale deeds from the same area, to support the disclosed price, while the Revenue failed to present independent evidence of a higher actual price paid by the assessee.

The High Court also referenced a Madras High Court case where the valuation for gift tax purposes was higher than the declared value, and the court emphasized the Stamp Authorities' independent valuation methods. In the absence of evidence showing inadequate consideration received by the assessee, the court dismissed the Revenue's appeal. Ultimately, the High Court upheld the Tribunal's decision and dismissed the Tax Appeal, affirming that the deeming fiction of Section 50C cannot be applied to ascertain undisclosed investments under Section 69B without proper evidence.