2017 (12) TMI 1873 - AT - Income Tax

Applicability of provisions of section 115JB - assessee is a Corporation, which is mainly engaged in the business of manufacturing of Cold Rolled High Tensile Steel - HELD THAT - As agreed by the representative of both the sides, the solitary issue involved in this appeal of the Revenue is squarely covered by the decision of the Coordinate Bench of this Tribunal rendered in assessee s own case vide its common order 2016 (2) TMI 458 - ITAT KOLKATA wherein a similar issue was decided after discussing all the relevant aspects as well as case laws in details by the Tribunal before summarising its conclusion. We respectfully follow the order of the Coordinate Bench of this Tribunal for the said years and uphold the impugned order of the ld. CIT(Appeals) in directing the AO not to assess the total income of the assessee by application of section 115JB of the Act. Appeal of the Revenue is dismissed.

Summary

Issues:
Applicability of section 115JB - Whether the provisions of section 115JB are applicable to the assessee corporation.

Analysis:
The appeal was filed by the Revenue challenging the order of the ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) regarding the applicability of section 115JB. The assessee, a Corporation engaged in manufacturing, declared a loss in the return of income, which was accepted by the Assessing Officer. However, the Assessing Officer determined the deemed total income under section 115JB. The ld. CIT(Appeals) held that section 115JB was not applicable to the assessee based on a Tribunal decision in the assessee's own case for previous assessment years. The Revenue appealed this decision before the Tribunal.

During the hearing, both sides agreed that the solitary issue was covered by a previous decision of the Tribunal in the assessee's case for other years. The Tribunal had previously ruled that section 115JB was not applicable to the assessee as it was a statutory corporation not registered under the Companies Act, 1956. The Tribunal also noted that the amendment to section 115JB introduced by the Finance Act, 2012 was applicable only from assessment year 2013-14 onwards. Additionally, the Tribunal allowed a statutory claim without a revised return if the facts were undisputed and available on record.

Given the similarity of the issue and relevant facts to previous years, the Tribunal upheld the ld. CIT(Appeals) order directing the Assessing Officer not to assess the total income of the assessee under section 115JB. Consequently, the appeal of the Revenue was dismissed, and the decision was pronounced in open court in December 2017.