2017 (7) TMI 97 - AT - Income Tax

Addition u/s 37 - non recoverable amount of security given for booking premium space for display of its various products - as per assessee due to non recoverability of the said security deposit, a business loss had accrued to the assessee which it had claimed as such by writing off the security deposit in the Profit & Loss Account - Held that - We find that other than claiming the same to be a business loss no evidence of any sort has been produced by the Ld. counsel for the assessee before us or even before the lower authorities to prove its above contention. In the absence of any such evidence, the write off of security deposit in the Profit & Loss Account cannot be treated as a business loss and we are in complete agreement with the Ld. CIT (Appeals) in this regard.But in the interest of justice we consider it fair to grant the assessee another oppurtunity of proving its claim of incurring business loss by adducing evidences in this regard. - Decided in favour of assessee for statistical purposes. Addition u/s 36(1)(iii) - interest rate difference on advance without appreciating the fact that the advance was given to supplier in the ordinary course of business - Held that - We find merit in the contention of Ld. counsel for the assessee. Undeniably, the own interest free funds of the assessee in the form of profits earned during the year being ₹ 2.02 crores were more than sufficient to make impugned advances of ₹ 80 lacs and, therefore, the presumption is that the advance has been made out of the own interest free funds and thus there was no occasion to make any disallowance on account of interest under section 36(1)(iii) of the Act as held by the Hon ble Jurisdictional High Court in the case of Bright Enterprises (P) Ltd. (2015 (11) TMI 342 - PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT). In view of the same, disallowance made under section 36(1)(iii) of the Act is deleted. - Decided in favour of assessee

Summary

Issues:
1. Disallowance of security deposit under section 37 of the Income Tax Act.
2. Disallowance of interest under section 36(1)(iii) of the Income Tax Act.

Issue 1: Disallowance of Security Deposit under Section 37
The appeal challenged the addition of ?2,00,000 under section 37 of the Income Tax Act related to a non-recoverable security deposit given for booking premium space for product display. The Assessing Officer disallowed the amount as the security deposit was not proven to be non-recoverable. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) upheld the disallowance due to lack of evidence supporting the claim. The appellant argued that the security deposit was irrecoverable due to financial problems and should be considered a business loss under section 37. However, no evidence was presented to support this claim. The tribunal agreed with the Commissioner but allowed the appellant another chance to provide evidence, restoring the issue back to the Assessing Officer for further examination.

Issue 2: Disallowance of Interest under Section 36(1)(iii)
The Assessing Officer disallowed ?1,88,553 under section 36(1)(iii) of the Act concerning an interest rate difference on an advance given to a supplier. The Commissioner upheld the disallowance based on a court decision. The appellant argued that it had enough interest-free funds to make the advances, citing its profits and balance sheet. The tribunal agreed with the appellant, noting that the funds were sufficient to cover the advances, and thus, no disallowance was warranted under section 36(1)(iii). Consequently, the disallowance made under this section was deleted, and the appeal was partly allowed.

In conclusion, the tribunal partially allowed the appeal, deleting the disallowance of interest under section 36(1)(iii) while granting the appellant an opportunity to provide evidence regarding the disallowance of the security deposit under section 37.