2019 (1) TMI 150 - AT - Income Tax

Undisclosed long term capital gain - as contended by assessee the alleged land was an agricultural land not falling under the category of capital assets as provided u/s 2(14) - as there was no column in the income tax return she bonafidely declared the transaction under the head capital and claimed deduction u/s 54B - Held that - It is clearly emanating from the records that the agriculture land is located 27 Km away from the municipal limit of city Amarawati and issituated in a village having population of 2294 persons and this fact has been certified by the Tehsildar of Shivangaon vide letter dated 6.3.2017. Therefore it is not disputed that the alleged agricultural land do not fall under the head capital gain assets as provided in Section 2(14) of the Act and therefore the capital gain arised in the sale of said agricultural land is not liable to tax. - decided against revenue.

Summary

Issues:
Deletion of addition of Long Term Capital Gain

Analysis:
The appeal pertains to the Assessment Year 2013-14 filed by the Revenue against the orders of the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-3. The only issue raised by the Revenue relates to the deletion of an addition made by the Assessing Officer on account of undisclosed long term capital gain. The Revenue contended that the Ld. CIT(A) erred in not considering the remand report and in deleting the addition of ?1,33,08,531 for the A.Y. 2013-14. The core question is whether the agricultural land in question falls under the category of capital assets as defined under Section 2(14) of the Income Tax Act.

The Ld. CIT(A) deleted the addition after considering the submissions made by the assessee. The appellant argued that the land sold was agricultural land not falling under the definition of capital assets. Various factors were presented to support this claim, including the location of the land, the population of the village, and the intended use for agricultural purposes. The Ld. CIT(A) found that the evidence provided by the appellant established that the land fulfilled the conditions to be classified as agricultural land, thereby not attracting capital gains tax.

The finding of the Ld. CIT(A) was supported by the evidence submitted by the appellant, including a certificate from the Gram Panchayat and the Tehsildar. The location of the land, being more than 8 km away from the city and having a population of less than 10,000, indicated its classification as agricultural land. The Ld. Departmental Representative did not challenge these facts, leading to the dismissal of the Revenue's appeal.

Regarding the issue of not taking a remand report, it was noted that the appellant had already provided the necessary certificates during the assessment proceedings. The certificate of the Tehsildar, which clarified the location of the agricultural land, was duly examined by the Ld. CIT(A), rendering a remand report unnecessary.

In conclusion, the appeal of the Revenue was dismissed, affirming the decision of the Ld. CIT(A) to delete the addition of long term capital gain. The judgment emphasized the importance of considering the specific characteristics of the land in question to determine its classification as agricultural land for tax purposes.