2015 (1) TMI 879 - HC - Income Tax

Rejection of books of accounts - addition of 39, 15, 783/- made by the AO applying the 20% of the gross profit rate on the total sale after rejection of books of accounts - CIT(A) deleted the addition - Held that - It must be observed here that after books of accounts had been completed duly audited and submitted rejection thereof by the Assessing Officer was indeed arbitrary. It is not a case where the Assessing Officer did not have the benefit of the audit report. The record reveals that the audit report had been issued on 17.02.2007 and thus was very much available to the Assessing Officer when he passed the order on 31.12.2008. In these circumstances the application of 20% of the sales as gross profit as against the claim of the assessee founded on the return for assessment year 2002-2003 (14.49%) was wholly unjustified since the Assessing Officer had not given any basis whatsoever for the same. There was no comparative data available with the Assessing Officer for inferring the gross profit at such higher rate. Thus find no error or impropriety in the view taken by the two appellate authorities below in the impugned orders. - Decided against revenue.

Summary

Issues:
1. Appeal against the order of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) rejecting the appeal of the Revenue.
2. Rejection of books of accounts under Section 145 of Income Tax Act.
3. Addition made by Assessing Officer in the trading account.
4. Disallowance of expenses claimed by the assessee.
5. Deletion of addition and reduction of disallowance by CIT (A) and ITAT.
6. Challenge by Revenue regarding deletion of amount added by Assessing Officer.
7. Best judgment assessment under Section 144 of the Income Tax Act.
8. Application of gross profit rate by Assessing Officer.

Analysis:
1. The case involved an Income Tax Appeal against the ITAT order rejecting the Revenue's appeal. The ITAT had confirmed the CIT (A) order that deleted the addition made by the Assessing Officer after rejecting the books of accounts under Section 145 of the Income Tax Act. The Assessing Officer had made an addition in the trading account of the assessee and disallowed certain expenses.

2. The Assessing Officer rejected the books of accounts of the assessee due to various discrepancies, including incomplete cash book, lack of stock register maintenance, and inconsistencies in recording sales and cash deposits. This rejection led to an addition in the trading account based on a percentage of the total sale consideration. The CIT (A) later deleted this addition and reduced the disallowance of expenses after considering the gross profit rate claimed by the assessee.

3. The Revenue challenged the ITAT's decision to delete the amount added by the Assessing Officer. The Assessing Officer had made a best judgment assessment under Section 144 after rejecting the books of accounts. The CIT (A) justified the deletion based on the gross profit rate applied by the assessee and the completion and audit of the books of accounts.

4. The court noted that the Assessing Officer's rejection of the completed and audited books of accounts was arbitrary, especially since the audit report was available before the assessment order. The application of a higher gross profit rate by the Assessing Officer without proper basis was deemed unjustified. The court upheld the decisions of the lower authorities, finding no error or impropriety in their reasoning.

5. Ultimately, the court dismissed the appeal, affirming the decisions of the CIT (A) and ITAT. The court found no substantial question of law requiring consideration, as the lower authorities had appropriately dealt with the issues raised by the Revenue.