2022 (11) TMI 1250 - AT - Income Tax

Reopening of assessment u/s 147 - reason to believe - tangible material before the AO - additional income offered to the closing stock - assessee has increased the opening stock to the extent of the disclosure made during the course of survey operation - HELD THAT - As in absence of any tangible material before the AO, he could not have reopened the assessment for the impugned assessment year. In our opinion, mistake, if any has been committed by the assessee in AY 2009-10 and the AO was also aware of the same. Therefore, instead of reopening the assessment for AY 2009-10, AO could not have reopened the assessment for AY 2010-11. We quash the reassessment proceedings and the grounds raised by the assessee on this issue are allowed.

Summary

Issues:
Validity of reassessment proceedings for AY 2010-11.

Analysis:

Issue 1: Validity of reassessment proceedings

The appeals were filed against separate orders dated 09.06.2017 of the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-1, Hyderabad for AY 2010-11. The AO reopened the assessment u/s. 147 of the I.T. Act based on various reasons, including discrepancies in the opening stock, excess claim of depreciation, disallowed expenditure, and non-submission of proof for deduction of tax at source. The assessee challenged the validity of the reassessment proceedings before the ld. CIT(A) and subsequently before the Tribunal. The Tribunal recalled the order for the limited purpose of adjudicating the issue of the validity of the reopening of the assessment.

Analysis of the Tribunal's Decision:

1. The ld. counsel for the assessee argued that there was no tangible material before the AO to reopen the assessment, especially considering that the closing stock of the previous year was taken as the opening stock for the current year.
2. The Tribunal found merit in the argument, noting that the AO had accepted the closing stock value for the previous year without any adjustment, making it the opening stock for the current year. Therefore, in the absence of tangible material, the reassessment proceedings were deemed invalid.
3. Citing the decision in CIT vs. Atul Kumar Swami, the Tribunal emphasized that a valid reopening of assessment must be based on tangible material to justify the conclusion of income escapement. Since there was no new material warranting reopening, the reassessment was deemed unjustified.
4. The Tribunal quashed the reassessment proceedings for AY 2010-11, allowing the grounds raised by the assessee on this issue. Similar reasoning was applied to related appeals challenging reassessment proceedings for the same year.

In conclusion, all three appeals filed by the respective assessees were allowed by the Tribunal, with the reassessment proceedings for AY 2010-11 being declared invalid.

This detailed analysis highlights the key arguments, legal principles, and the Tribunal's decision regarding the validity of the reassessment proceedings for the specified assessment year.