2013 (11) TMI 109 - AT - Income Tax

Addition made u/s 69A genuineness of transaction - sale of shears - STCG - Held that - The transactions carried out by the assessee have been explained through material on record and the assessee entered into the transactions of purchase and sale of shares genuinely. Sale consideration is received through broker who is also existing assessee with the Revenue Department - there is no reason to treat the transaction as non-genuine for the purpose of making addition - the source of the receipt of the amount is explained and the transaction entered into by the assessee with the broker clearly suggests a case of short-term capital gains Decided against Revenue. Validity of reassessment proceedings u/s. 148 - Without issuance of notice Held that - Both the additions made by the AO have been deleted on merits - validity of proceedings u/s. 148, did not arise from the order.

Summary

Issues:
1. Addition of Rs.8,99,850/- made by the AO under section 69A of the IT Act.
2. Validity of reassessment proceedings under section 148 of the IT Act and non-compliance with provisions of section 124(4) and section 143(2) of the IT Act.

Analysis:

Issue 1: Addition of Rs.8,99,850/- under section 69A of the IT Act
The Assessing Officer (AO) initiated reassessment proceedings under section 148 of the IT Act and made an addition of Rs.8,99,850/- on account of an unrecorded amount received by the assessee. The assessee explained that the amount was received from a stock broker towards the sale of shares, for which complete details were provided. The AO, however, was not satisfied with the explanation and added the amount to the income of the assessee. The ld. CIT(A) found that the AO had taken income on a notional basis and directed that the computation of income filed by the assessee should have been accepted. The Revenue challenged the deletion of the addition under section 69A, but the ld. CIT(A) accepted the explanation of the assessee, noting that the transactions of purchase and sale of shares were genuine and resulted in short-term capital gains. The Tribunal upheld the decision of the ld. CIT(A), emphasizing that the transactions were explained through material on record, and there was no reason to treat them as non-genuine. The departmental appeal was dismissed.

Issue 2: Validity of reassessment proceedings and non-compliance with procedural requirements
The assessee raised concerns regarding the validity of reassessment proceedings under section 148 of the IT Act and non-compliance with the provisions of section 124(4) and section 143(2) of the IT Act. The ld. CIT(A) did not decide on the validity of the reassessment proceedings as the additions made by the AO were deleted on merits. The Tribunal considered these issues as academic exercises since the additions were deleted, and they did not arise directly from the ld. CIT(A)'s order. As a result, the Tribunal did not find it appropriate to decide on these issues at that stage. Since the additions made by the AO were deleted, including one that was accepted by the Revenue Department, the cross-objection raised by the assessee was disposed of accordingly.

In conclusion, the Tribunal upheld the decision of the ld. CIT(A) in deleting the addition made by the AO under section 69A of the IT Act, emphasizing the genuineness of the transactions. The concerns raised by the assessee regarding the validity of reassessment proceedings and procedural non-compliance were not addressed in detail as the additions were deleted on merits, rendering those issues academic.