2010 (2) TMI 269 - HC - Income Tax

Reassessment- The assessee was engaged inter alia in the business of providing audiovisual television software, films, event and other like activities. It also acted as an agent for foreign television companies for canvassing the sale of airtime for channels for which it received agency fees. For the assessment year 2004-05 the Assessing Officer allowed to the assessee a deduction on account of expenditure incurred towards advertisement, publicity and market research. On march 25, 2009 the Assessing Officer issued a notice u/s 148 proposing to reopen the assessment proceedings for assessment year 2004-05. The reason recorded by the Assessing officer were that during the course of assessment proceeding of the subsequent assessment year 205-06, the Assessing officer had made a specific addition under the head of advertisement, sale promotion, market research expenses, wherein an amount of Rs. 32.49 crores was added back to the income o the assessee. Held that- the Assessing Officer did so on the basis of fresh material which came before him in view of the notice dated Nov. 26, 2008 in pursuance of which the assessee filed a detailed representation elucidating the relevant particular of the business of the assessee. The Assessing Officer did have tangible material to reopen the assessment under section 147. The notice of reassessment was valid. Dismissed the petition.

Issues Involved:
1. Validity of the reopening of assessment under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
2. Whether the reopening of assessment was based on a mere change of opinion or tangible material.
3. The applicability of the principle laid down in Commissioner of Income Tax vs. Kelvinator of India Ltd.

Issue-wise Detailed Analysis:

1. Validity of the reopening of assessment under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961:
The petitioner challenged the validity of the notice issued under Section 148 for reopening the assessment for the assessment year 2004-05. The petitioner argued that the assessment was already concluded on 22nd December 2006, and the reopening was based on the same facts without any fresh material, which constituted a mere change of opinion. The court examined the provisions of Section 147, which allows the Assessing Officer to reassess any income chargeable to tax that has escaped assessment, provided there is "reason to believe" that such income has escaped assessment. The court emphasized that the sufficiency of the reasons for reopening an assessment is not to be determined at this stage, but rather whether there was a reason to believe that income had escaped assessment.

2. Whether the reopening of assessment was based on a mere change of opinion or tangible material:
The court analyzed whether the reopening was based on tangible material or a mere change of opinion. The Assessing Officer issued the notice for reopening based on the findings from the assessment proceedings for the subsequent assessment year 2005-06, where an addition was made under the head of advertisements, sales promotion, and market research expenses. The court noted that the Assessing Officer is not precluded from relying on an order of assessment passed for a subsequent assessment year if additional material has emerged. The court cited the Supreme Court's judgment in Commissioner of Income Tax vs. Kelvinator of India Ltd., which held that reassessment must be based on tangible material and not merely a change of opinion. The court also referred to the judgments in Srikrishna Pvt. Ltd. vs. Income Tax Officer and Ess Ess Kay Engineering Co. P. Ltd. vs. Commissioner of Income Tax, which supported the principle that reopening based on findings from a subsequent assessment year is permissible if it is grounded on additional or tangible material.

3. The applicability of the principle laid down in Commissioner of Income Tax vs. Kelvinator of India Ltd.:
The court applied the principle laid down in Kelvinator of India Ltd., which requires that there must be tangible material to justify reopening an assessment. The court found that during the assessment proceedings for the year 2005-06, the Assessing Officer conducted a detailed inquiry and made a disallowance based on fresh material. This fresh material provided a tangible basis for the Assessing Officer to form a reason to believe that income had escaped assessment for the year 2004-05. The court held that the reopening of the assessment was justified as it was based on tangible material and not a mere change of opinion.

Conclusion:
The court concluded that the Assessing Officer had tangible material to reopen the assessment under Section 147 and form a reason to believe that income had escaped assessment. The petition was dismissed, and the court reiterated that the question of whether the petitioner would be entitled to a deduction in respect of the entire expenses claimed under Section 37(1) would be determined on merits according to law. The observations in the judgment should not be considered as an expression of any opinion on the merits of that issue. The petition was dismissed with no order as to costs.

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