2012 (6) TMI 81 - AT - Income Tax

Search/ survey proceedings on group concerns - additions - alleged unexplained investment with HMA Group - Revenue contended unaccounted purchases on basis of few bills found during survey - Held that - Evidence on record does indicate that these are only accommodation bills for obtaining the loans. Just because there are certain bills available, it cannot be considered as unaccounted purchases unless there is evidence that assessee purchased the goods in question and paid the amount outside the books of account. Assessee contended that amounts were settled by way of LC proceeds and these were accounted for in the books of account. In the absence of any actual purchase and the fact that the bills were discounted in the Bank, which were accounted in the books of account takes it out of the unaccounted purchase provisions of the I.T. Act - Addition deleted Alleged unaccounted sales to Liberty Marketers - dispute regarding name in which bills are raised between both parties - Held that - As the matters were disputed, contentions were not accepted, and in absence of inquiry and examination of the actual details, matter restored to file of AO Interest paid in cash and relatable loan taken and repaid in cash - assessee contended that interest was taken upfront i.e. the interest would be deducted from the principal amount at the time of advancing the loan itself and these amounts are taken by way of cheques - Held that - As far as the amounts of loan taken, they are tallying with the dates and these amounts are taken by way of cheques. Matter require further examination - File restored to AO. Alleged unaccounted sales to Depot - dispute is with reference to the goods sent to Branch considered as unaccounted sales of the HO on the basis of the statement obtained from the Branch office - assessee submitted that out of sales statement of 6346 No. of items, Branch has accounted sales of 2698, hence sales of 2698 may be added - Held that - Addition is restricted upto 2698 items, balance to be deleted. Entire sales proceeds of aforesaid items will be added as against assessee contention of adding only profits. Alleged unaccounted stock at depot - no addition made in assessment order - Held that - Unaccounted stock found subsequent to the date of search cannot be considered in the block assessment proceedings and may have to be considered under the regular assessment proceedings - Addition deleted. Alleged Cash Credits - Held that - Since credits are accounted in the books of account and is a subject matter of inquiry in the regular assessments, therefore, in the absence of incriminating material in the course of search, these cannot be examined in the proceedings u/s 158BC. Benefit of telescoping in block assessment - Held that - Since few grounds are restored to file of AO. hence ultimate examination of telescoping benefit has to be done by AO after deciding the issues afresh.

Summary

Issues Involved:

1. Addition of Rs. 1,50,25,864/- as unexplained investment.
2. Addition of Rs. 29,58,697/- as unaccounted sales to Liberty Marketers.
3. Addition of Rs. 78,16,200/- as undisclosed interest payment to Thakkar Group.
4. Addition of Rs. 63,46,000/- as unaccounted sales relating to Hyderabad Depot.
5. Addition of Rs. 5,01,000/- as unaccounted stock at Hyderabad Depot.
6. Addition of Rs. 10,00,000/- as unexplained cash credits from M/s Manisha Trading Company and M/s Ashok Textiles.
7. Benefit of telescoping in respect of additions made on income basis vis-`a-vis additions made on expenditure/investment basis.
8. Deletion of Rs. 1,40,83,713/- made on account of repayment of principal component of loan in cash.
9. Deletion of addition made under section 68 on account of unexplained cash credits from M/s Mehta Engg. Co., J.M. Mehta (HUF), and M/s Arihant Enterprises.

Detailed Analysis:

1. Addition of Rs. 1,50,25,864/- as unexplained investment:

The assessee contested the addition of Rs. 1,50,25,864/- as unexplained investment related to transactions with the HMA Group. The assessee argued that the bills found during the search were accommodation bills for discounting LCs with the bank and not real transactions. The CIT (A) upheld the AO's addition, stating that the assessee failed to correlate the purchases with the recorded transactions. However, the Tribunal found that the transactions were indeed recorded in the books and that the bills were accommodation bills for obtaining loans, not unaccounted purchases. The addition was deleted.

2. Addition of Rs. 29,58,697/- as unaccounted sales to Liberty Marketers:

The AO added Rs. 52,95,960/- as unaccounted sales based on seized documents indicating transactions with M/s. Liberty Marketers and Siyaz & Zulfikar. The CIT (A) deleted part of the addition after verification but upheld Rs. 29,58,697/-. The Tribunal remanded the issue to the AO for further inquiry and allowed the assessee to cross-examine M/s. Liberty Marketers. The AO was directed to consider the profit element rather than the entire sales proceeds.

3. Addition of Rs. 78,16,200/- as undisclosed interest payment to Thakkar Group:

The AO added Rs. 78,16,200/- as undisclosed interest payment based on seized documents and the statement of Smt. Bhavana Thakkar. The CIT (A) confirmed the interest addition but deleted the principal amount of Rs. 1.40 crores. The Tribunal remanded the issue for re-examination, directing the AO to verify records from the Crime Branch and the Income Tax records of the Thakkar Group.

4. Addition of Rs. 63,46,000/- as unaccounted sales relating to Hyderabad Depot:

The AO added Rs. 63,46,000/- as unaccounted sales based on a statement from the Hyderabad depot. The CIT (A) upheld the addition, stating that the goods were not recorded as samples. The Tribunal found that the goods were transferred as samples and not sold. It confirmed the addition for 2698 pieces at Rs. 500 per piece, totaling Rs. 13,49,000/-, and deleted the balance.

5. Addition of Rs. 5,01,000/- as unaccounted stock at Hyderabad Depot:

The AO added Rs. 5,01,000/- for excess stock found at the Hyderabad depot. The CIT (A) confirmed the addition. The Tribunal deleted the addition, stating that the stock found during the survey on 13/03/2003 could not be considered in the block assessment ending on 12/12/2002.

6. Addition of Rs. 10,00,000/- as unexplained cash credits from M/s Manisha Trading Company and M/s Ashok Textiles:

The AO added Rs. 29.50 lakhs as unexplained cash credits. The CIT (A) confirmed the addition for M/s Manisha Trading Co. and M/s Ashok Textiles. The Tribunal deleted the addition, stating that the credits were recorded in the books and should be assessed in regular assessments, not in the block assessment.

7. Benefit of telescoping in respect of additions made on income basis vis-`a-vis additions made on expenditure/investment basis:

The Tribunal directed the AO to consider the benefit of telescoping after deciding the issues afresh, as some issues were remanded for further examination.

8. Deletion of Rs. 1,40,83,713/- made on account of repayment of principal component of loan in cash:

The CIT (A) deleted the addition of Rs. 1,40,83,713/- for the principal component of the loan. The Tribunal upheld the deletion, stating that there was no incriminating material indicating repayment of the loan in cash.

9. Deletion of addition made under section 68 on account of unexplained cash credits from M/s Mehta Engg. Co., J.M. Mehta (HUF), and M/s Arihant Enterprises:

The CIT (A) deleted the additions for unexplained cash credits from M/s Mehta Engg. Co., J.M. Mehta (HUF), and M/s Arihant Enterprises. The Tribunal upheld the deletion, stating that the credits were recorded in the books and should be assessed in regular assessments, not in the block assessment.

Conclusion:

The Tribunal partly allowed the assessee's appeal and dismissed the Revenue's appeal. The Tribunal remanded some issues for further examination and directed the AO to consider the benefit of telescoping.