2019 (8) TMI 839 - AT - Income Tax

Anonymous donations u/s 115BBC - assessment of trust - whether the donations received by the assessee under the head Yogeshwar Krishi are in the nature of anonymous donations, or not? - HELD THAT - We find that as the facts and the issue involved in the present case remains the same as were there before the Tribunal in the assesses own case for A.Y. 2011-12 2017 (4) TMI 1147 - ITAT MUMBAI wherein held the assessee in the instant case could not provide addresses, father s name and PAN of the donors and the assessee is also not a religious trust to be covered under exception. The assessee has come forward with a request that if an opportunity is given to the assessee, the assessee can produce the donors before the AO as directed by the AO. It is also submitted that PAN and addresses of all the donors for verification by the A.O. will also be furnished for verification by the AO. Keeping in view the provisions of Section 115BBC and in the interest of justice and fair play, we are of considered view that this matter needs to be set aside and restored to the file of the A.O for necessary enquiry and verification of the said donations so received by the assessee as to genuineness and also for verifying compliance of the relevant section 115BBC. The onus as well burden of proof is entirely on the assessee to provide to the AO all relevant details as contemplated under section 115BBC to the satisfaction of the AO as to compliance of Section 115BBC and as to genuineness of the said donation. The assessee is directed to furnish PAN, addresses and all other relevant details of all the said donors before the AO to satisfy mandate of Section 115BBC - Appeal of assessee is allowed for statistical purposes

Summary

Issues Involved:
1. Disallowance of corpus donations as anonymous donations under Section 115BBC of the Income Tax Act.
2. Failure to provide necessary evidence for proving the identity of donors.

Issue-wise Detailed Analysis:

1. Disallowance of Corpus Donations as Anonymous Donations under Section 115BBC of the Income Tax Act:

The assessee, a trust engaged in charitable activities in the field of education, filed appeals against the orders of CIT(A)-6, Mumbai, which upheld the action of the Assessing Officer (AO) in treating corpus donations as anonymous donations taxable under Section 115BBC of the Income Tax Act. For A.Y. 2013-14, the AO observed that the assessee trust had shown an addition of ?7,19,23,720 towards its corpus, including ?3,40,48,002 received from "Yogeshwar Krishi." The AO held that the donations were anonymous as the assessee failed to provide the necessary evidence for proving the identity of the donors, including their names, addresses, and PAN details, as required under Section 115BBC(3). Consequently, the AO taxed the amount of ?3,40,48,002 as anonymous donations under Section 115BBC and denied exclusion under Sections 11 and 11(1)(d).

The CIT(A) upheld the AO's decision, stating that the assessee did not provide sufficient evidence to prove the genuineness of the donations. The CIT(A) also referred to the Tribunal's earlier decision for A.Y. 2010-11, which had set aside the issue for verification but did not conclusively establish the genuineness of the donations.

2. Failure to Provide Necessary Evidence for Proving the Identity of Donors:

The assessee argued that the issue was covered by the Tribunal's order in its own case for A.Y. 2010-11, where the matter was restored to the AO for verification. The Tribunal had observed that the assessee, being a non-religious trust, was required to maintain records of the identity of donors, including names and addresses, to comply with Section 115BBC. The Tribunal had directed the assessee to provide PAN, addresses, and other relevant details of the donors and produce a specified percentage of donors before the AO for verification.

For A.Y. 2014-15, the AO observed that the assessee trust claimed to have received voluntary contributions of ?5,24,82,401 under "Yogeshwar Krishi" but failed to provide names, addresses, and PAN details of the donors. Consequently, the AO treated the contributions as anonymous donations and denied exclusion under Section 11.

The CIT(A) upheld the AO's decision, and the assessee appealed to the Tribunal. The Tribunal found that the facts and issues for A.Y. 2014-15 were similar to those for A.Y. 2013-14 and restored the matter to the AO for verification, following the directions given in the earlier years.

Conclusion:

The Tribunal allowed the appeals for statistical purposes and restored the matters to the AO for necessary verifications regarding the identity and genuineness of the donations, following the directions given in the assessee's own case for earlier assessment years. The AO was directed to provide proper and adequate opportunity to the assessee to furnish relevant details and produce donors for verification. The appeals were disposed of with these observations.

Order Pronounced:

The order was pronounced in the open court on 07.08.2019.