2012 (12) TMI 201 - AT - Income Tax

Addition on account of reconciliation difference in the closing stock of natural gas Held that - Loss of about 4% of purchases is reasonable subject to verification. Instead of verifying the percentage of loss, the AO reproduced his earlier order. The loss of 3.4% is borne out by audited accounts, which is lower than the average loss of about 4% - no reasonable cause to make the disallowance of reconciliation loss by stating that the details of stock lying in pipe lines were not furnished in qualitative or quantitative terms. What had to be verified was whether the loss was in the vicinity of 4%, which has been held to be reasonable by the Tribunal addition deleted

Summary

Issues:
1. Addition of Rs.2,37,66,448 on account of reconciliation difference in the closing stock of natural gas.
2. Addition of Rs.3,09,79,347 on account of reconciliation difference in the closing stock.

Issue 1:
The appeal concerns the addition of Rs.2,37,66,448 on account of reconciliation difference in the closing stock of natural gas. The assessee, engaged in the distribution of natural gas, explained that the unreconciled difference was due to various factors such as the conversion factor from volume to weight, equipment commissioning, pressure relief valves, and meter accuracy tolerance. The ITAT noted that the shortage was approximately 4% and similar shortages were observed in preceding and subsequent years. The ITAT set aside the matter back to the AO, emphasizing that the percentage of loss appeared reasonable. Despite the set aside, the AO repeated the addition, leading to multiple rounds of appeals. The ITAT ultimately upheld the CIT(A)'s decision to delete the addition, citing the identical facts to a previous year's case and the reasonableness of the loss percentage.

Issue 2:
The second appeal involves the addition of Rs.3,09,79,347 on account of reconciliation difference in the closing stock, with facts similar to the assessment year 2002-03. The ITAT, after detailed discussions, upheld the CIT(A)'s order and dismissed the revenue's appeal. The decision was based on the identical nature of facts to the previous year, where the Tribunal found no error in the CIT(A)'s decision to delete the addition. The appeals filed by the revenue were ultimately dismissed in both cases.

In conclusion, the judgment addressed the issues of reconciliation differences in the closing stock of natural gas, emphasizing the reasonableness of the losses and the consistent application of decisions across multiple assessment years. The ITAT upheld the CIT(A)'s decisions to delete the additions, citing similar factual circumstances and expert opinions from previous cases.