2014 (1) TMI 1486 - AT - Income Tax

Activity of share trading - Business income or capital gains - Held that - AO has treated the entire investment accounts as trading account treating the transactions as business transactions but the assessee treated capital gains either short term or long term - The assessee has never invested any borrowed funds rather it has invested her own funds - The assessee has disclosed the purchase and sale and gains arising out of sale as capital gains - CIT(A) has rightly treated the gains as LTCG and STCG Decided against Revenue. Disallownace of general expenses on printing and staionery staff welfare expenditure etc. - Held that - The AO has made disallowance on ad hoc basis and there is no reason for the same - Only expenditure of Rs.6560/- incurred on account of income tax is to be disallowed apart from disallowance restricted at Rs.5000 - Partly allowed in favour of assessee.

Summary

Issues involved:
1. Treatment of gains from share transactions as capital gains or business income.
2. Restriction of expenditure and disallowance by the Assessing Officer.

Issue 1: Treatment of gains from share transactions
The appeals by Revenue challenged the CIT(A)'s deletion of the addition of gains from share transactions treated as capital gains instead of business income by the Assessing Officer. The Revenue argued that the shares were not purchased or sold with the sole motive of investment, citing reasons related to dividend earnings and the magnitude of transactions. They also referred to CBDT Circulars and judicial precedents to support their position. The CIT(A) considered the nature of the transactions, the consistent treatment of shares as investments by the assessee, and the absence of fresh evidence contrary to the investment claim. The CIT(A) concluded that the gains should be treated as Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) and Short Term Capital Gains (STCG) based on the assessee's explanations and past treatment of shares as investments. The ITAT upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, emphasizing that the assessee used own funds for investments, consistently treated gains as capital gains, and provided detailed evidence supporting the investment claim. The ITAT dismissed the Revenue's appeals, affirming the treatment of gains as LTCG and STCG.

Issue 2: Restriction of expenditure and disallowance
Another issue in one of the appeals involved the CIT(A)'s decision to restrict the addition of Rs.5000 out of total claimed expenditure by the assessee. The Revenue contended that the restriction was unjustified considering the earnings and expenditure ratio. The AO had made an ad hoc disallowance of Rs.75,000 due to lack of substantiation for various expenses. The CIT(A) observed that major expenses were towards salary and restricted the disallowance to Rs.5000, allowing relief of Rs.70,000. The ITAT found the AO's disallowance to be ad hoc without sufficient reason and directed the AO to disallow only the expenditure related to income tax and restrict the disallowance to Rs.5000. Consequently, the ITAT partly allowed this issue in the Revenue's appeal.

In conclusion, the ITAT upheld the CIT(A)'s decision regarding the treatment of gains from share transactions as capital gains, dismissed the Revenue's appeals, and partly allowed the issue related to the restriction of expenditure and disallowance. The judgment provided a detailed analysis of the facts, arguments, and legal principles involved in each issue, ensuring a fair and reasoned decision based on the evidence presented.