2017 (2) TMI 448 - AT - Income Tax

Unexplained deposits - Held that - AO while making the impugned additions has not considered the explanation of the assessee in right perspective, even he has not considered the earlier withdrawals which were re-deposited by the assessee and had also not given due weightage to the agricultural income earned by the assessee. Therefore, by considering the totality of the facts deem it appropriate to set aside this issue back to the file of the AO to be re-adjudicated in accordance with law after providing due and reasonable opportunity of being heard to the assessee.- Appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.

Issues Involved:
1. Sustenance of addition of ?70,000 made by the AO.
2. Sustenance of addition of ?4,98,000 made by the AO.
3. Sustenance of addition of ?1,00,000 made by the AO.
4. Sustenance of addition of ?40,000 made by the AO.
5. Sustenance of addition of ?1,00,000 made by the AO.
6. Sustenance of addition of ?2,00,000 made by the AO.
7. Sustenance of addition of ?4,00,000 made by the AO.

Issue-wise Detailed Analysis:

1. Sustenance of Addition of ?70,000:
The AO questioned the source of ?70,000 deposited on 13.05.2008, which the assessee claimed was from the sale of sugarcane. The AO rejected this explanation due to the assessee's failure to provide the name and address of the buyer, quantity, and rate of the sugarcane sold, and lack of credible evidence. Additionally, the assessee did not report any agricultural income in the tax returns and the frequency of transactions suggested that all sugarcane sales were through cheques. The AO added ?70,000 to the total income as unexplained cash deposit, which was sustained by the CIT(A).

2. Sustenance of Addition of ?4,98,000:
The AO scrutinized the deposit of ?4,98,000 on 09.06.2008, which the assessee claimed was from the sale of sugarcane. Similar to the previous issue, the AO rejected the explanation due to lack of evidence, non-disclosure of agricultural income, and the pattern of transactions indicating cheque payments for sugarcane sales. The AO added ?4,98,000 to the total income, and the CIT(A) upheld this addition.

3. Sustenance of Addition of ?1,00,000:
The deposit of ?1,00,000 on 23.06.2008 was claimed to be from the sale of wheat. The AO rejected this claim due to the failure to provide buyer details, quantity, and rate of wheat sold, and lack of credible evidence. The AO noted the absence of reported agricultural income and added ?1,00,000 to the total income, which was sustained by the CIT(A).

4. Sustenance of Addition of ?40,000:
The deposit of ?40,000 on 17.09.2008 was explained as a re-deposit of earlier withdrawals. The AO found this explanation unsatisfactory due to the timing and frequency of transactions, and the lack of surplus cash before the deposit date. The AO added ?40,000 to the total income as unexplained cash deposit, which was sustained by the CIT(A).

5. Sustenance of Addition of ?1,00,000:
The deposit of ?1,00,000 on 23.01.2009 was claimed to be from the sale of sugarcane. The AO rejected this explanation for similar reasons as before: lack of buyer details, quantity, rate, credible evidence, and non-disclosure of agricultural income. The AO added ?1,00,000 to the total income, and the CIT(A) upheld this addition.

6. Sustenance of Addition of ?2,00,000:
The deposit of ?2,00,000 on 30.01.2009 was also claimed to be from the sale of sugarcane. The AO rejected this claim due to the same reasons as previous issues: lack of buyer details, quantity, rate, credible evidence, and non-disclosure of agricultural income. The AO added ?2,00,000 to the total income, which was sustained by the CIT(A).

7. Sustenance of Addition of ?4,00,000:
The deposit of ?4,00,000 on 09.02.2009 was explained as a cash loan from Shri Harendra Kumar for a demand draft to Pawan Kumar Agarwal and Rekha Devi Agarwal. The AO rejected this explanation due to the failure to produce Shri Harendra Kumar for verification and lack of evidence for the loan's credibility. Further inquiries suggested that the assessee might be using the bank account for providing accommodation or fake entries. The AO added ?4,00,000 to the total income, which was sustained by the CIT(A).

Conclusion:
The ITAT found that the AO did not consider the assessee's explanations, earlier withdrawals, and agricultural income in the right perspective. The case was remanded to the AO for re-adjudication in accordance with the law, providing the assessee an opportunity to be heard. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes.

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