2015 (10) TMI 465 - AT - Income Tax

Disallowance u/s 14A as per Rule 8D - assessee submitted that it had not incurred any expenditure for earning dividend income since it was a passive activity and also objected to the proposed invocation of section 14A and applicability of Rule 8D of the IT Rules - Held that - We find force in the submission of ld. Counsel for the assessee that the entire expenditure could not be appropriated towards the earning of exempt income and, therefore, we estimate the expenditure incurred towards earning of exempt income at ₹ 4 lacs out of the total expenses of ₹ 8,58,737/-. We direct accordingly. - Decided partly in favour of assessee.

Summary

Issues Involved:
- Disallowance of expenditure under section 14A of the Income Tax Act
- Applicability of Rule 8D for computing disallowance

Analysis:

Issue 1: Disallowance of Expenditure under Section 14A
The case involved cross-appeals by the revenue and the assessee against the order of the ld. CIT(A) related to the assessment year 2009-10. The assessing officer required the assessee to provide details of expenditure incurred for earning dividend income and explain why no disallowance should be made under section 14A. The assessing officer contended that even in passive investment activities, there are inherent costs such as collection expenses, telephone charges, and director's time, justifying the apportionment of expenses. The onus to prove that expenditure was not incurred for exempt income but for taxable business operations was placed on the assessee. The assessing officer computed the disallowance under section 14A at Rs. 55,35,655.

Issue 2: Applicability of Rule 8D for Computing Disallowance
The assessee objected to the disallowance made by the assessing officer and contended that the total expenditure incurred should be considered for disallowance under section 14A. The ld. CIT(A) partly allowed the assessee's appeal and restricted the disallowance to Rs. 6,21,826, over and above the amount already disallowed by the assessee. Both the assessee and the revenue appealed against this decision. The ITAT considered the total expenditure incurred by the assessee and concluded that the disallowance under section 14A could not exceed the total expenditure. Referring to a previous year's decision, the ITAT estimated the expenditure incurred towards earning exempt income at Rs. 4 lakhs out of the total expenses of Rs. 8,58,737. The ITAT upheld the partial allowance of the assessee's appeal and dismissed the revenue's appeal.

In conclusion, the ITAT's judgment addressed the issues of disallowance of expenditure under section 14A and the applicability of Rule 8D for computing disallowance, providing a detailed analysis of the arguments presented by the parties and previous decisions to arrive at a final decision in favor of the assessee.