2017 (9) TMI 2019 - AT - Income Tax

Allowable business expenditure - expenditure on gradation certification of diamonds - absence of correlation of the expenditure on gradation certification of diamonds with the sale and stock of diamonds - CIT (A) restricting the disallowance of such expenditure to 30% - HELD THAT - As pointed out by the CIT(A) the assessee has produced the party wise details of grading and certification charges along with ledger statements. The payments were made after deducting tax at source. CIT(A) has rightly pointed out that grading and certification are the essential part of business and how much expenditure was required to be made on certification and grading was to be decided by the assessee. AO has not made any comparison to falsify the claim of the assessee. Since, payments to the parties are not in dispute, ad hoc addition cannot be made without establishing that either the transaction was sham or the expenditure was made for the purposes other than the business of the assessee. Hence, we do not find any reason to interfere with the order passed by the Ld. CIT(A). The order passed by the Ld. CIT(A) is upheld and all the grounds of appeal of the revenue are dismissed.

Issues:
1. Disallowance of grading and certification expenses by AO.
2. Appeal by revenue against Ld. CIT (A) order.
3. Grounds of appeal by revenue before the Tribunal.
4. Discrepancy in revenue's grounds of appeal.
5. Arguments by revenue and assessee.
6. Tribunal's analysis and decision.

Issue 1: Disallowance of grading and certification expenses by AO
The assessee, a partnership firm, declared income for the Assessment Year 2011-12. The AO disallowed 30% of grading and certification expenses, totaling Rs. 80,27,909, due to a fall in profit. The AO sought correlation between these expenses and sales/stock. The Ld. CIT (A) deleted this addition, stating the expenses were genuine and essential for the business.

Issue 2: Appeal by revenue against Ld. CIT (A) order
The revenue appealed to the Tribunal against the Ld. CIT (A)'s order, arguing that the expenses lacked correlation with sales/stock. The revenue contended that the deletion of the addition was erroneous as the assessee failed to prove the necessity of these expenses for business purposes.

Issue 3: Grounds of appeal by revenue before the Tribunal
The revenue raised three grounds of appeal before the Tribunal, questioning the Ld. CIT (A)'s decision to delete the disallowance of expenses. The revenue argued that the expenses were not wholly and exclusively for business purposes and lacked correlation with sales/stock. The revenue sought restoration of the assessment order.

Issue 4: Discrepancy in revenue's grounds of appeal
The revenue mistakenly mentioned that the Ld. CIT (A) restricted the disallowance to 30%, whereas the CIT (A) actually deleted the entire addition made by the AO. The revenue contended that the expenses were not justified for business purposes and should not have been deleted.

Issue 5: Arguments by revenue and assessee
The revenue argued that the expenses were not justified and should not have been deleted, urging for restoration of the assessment order. Conversely, the assessee defended the Ld. CIT (A)'s decision, stating that the grading expenses were essential for the business and fully allowable under section 37 of the Act.

Issue 6: Tribunal's analysis and decision
The Tribunal upheld the Ld. CIT (A)'s decision to delete the addition of grading and certification expenses. The Tribunal noted that the AO failed to establish any discrepancy in the expenses claimed by the assessee. The Tribunal emphasized that the decision on such expenses rests with the assessee and cannot be questioned solely based on profit margins. Therefore, the Tribunal dismissed the revenue's appeal, affirming the Ld. CIT (A)'s order.

In conclusion, the Tribunal upheld the deletion of the disallowed expenses, emphasizing the business necessity and discretion of the assessee in incurring such expenses.

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