2021 (8) TMI 937 - AT - Income Tax

Estimating the income of the assessee @ 8% on the sub-contract turnover - addition made being the entire sub-contract receipt not found to be genuine and ₹ 18,00,000/- being the amount received from three parties which remained unexplained - HELD THAT - From the facts of the case it is apparent that the assessee had not maintained proper books of accounts or produced his bank statements to justify the expenditure incurred by him for undertaking the contracts. The assessee has also failed to produce bills and vouchers even to establish that he was undertaking and executing civil contracts. CIT (A) has arrived at his conclusion based on certain contract agreements, bank account etc., which are cited in his order and after perusing those documents we don t find any strength in the observation made by the Ld. CIT (A). On verifying the paper book of the assessee running to 32 pages, we do not find any concrete evidence to establish that the assessee is actually executing any civil contract works with respect to the contracts he has claimed to have undertaken - assessee could also not furnish proper evidence to establish that the parties from whom the assessee had received the amount of ₹ 18 lakhs is genuine. Therefore, we do not find any infirmity in the order of the Ld. AO. For the above stated reasons, we set aside the order of the ld. CIT (A) and accordingly the order of the ld. AO is hereby reinstated. Appeal of the Revenue is allowed.

Summary

Issues:
Estimation of income based on sub-contract turnover, lack of evidence for executed contracts, unexplained cash credits, rejection of books of account, reinstatement of AO's order.

Estimation of Income Based on Sub-Contract Turnover:
The appeal was filed by the Revenue against the order of the Ld. CIT(A) concerning the estimation of income of the assessee at 8% on the sub-contract turnover. The Ld. AO had made an addition of &8377; 2,75,00,000 towards unexplained income and &8377; 18 lakhs towards unexplained cash credit. The Ld. CIT(A) estimated the income of the assessee at 8% on the turnover of &8377; 2,93,00,000, considering various documents and submissions. The Assessing Officer had found discrepancies in the assessee's address, lack of maintained books of accounts, absence of vouchers for expenditure, and unfiled agreements. The CIT(A) rejected the books of account and estimated the income at 8% of the turnover, disagreeing with the AO's treatment of entire receipts as income.

Lack of Evidence for Executed Contracts:
During the scrutiny assessment, it was observed that the assessee did not maintain proper books of accounts or provide evidence to justify the expenditure incurred for executing civil contracts. The Ld. AO concluded that the contracts were not genuine, leading to the addition of &8377; 2,75,00,000 as unexplained income. The CIT(A) based the estimation of income on certain contract agreements and bank statements, which the Tribunal found lacking in strength. Despite the submission of documents, including contract agreements and bank statements, the Tribunal did not find concrete evidence to support the execution of civil contracts by the assessee.

Unexplained Cash Credits:
The assessee had received &8377; 18 lakhs from three different parties without providing convincing explanations. The Ld. AO treated this amount as unexplained cash credit, leading to an addition towards the unexplained income. The Tribunal noted that the assessee failed to furnish proper evidence to establish the genuineness of the parties from whom the amount was received, supporting the AO's decision to add the amount towards unexplained cash credit.

Rejection of Books of Account:
The CIT(A) rejected the books of account and estimated the income at 8% of the turnover, considering the factual position and documents filed during the assessment proceedings. The Tribunal, upon reviewing the case, did not find any strength in the observations made by the CIT(A) based on the contract agreements and bank statements. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the CIT(A)'s order and reinstated the Ld. AO's decision.

In conclusion, the Tribunal allowed the Revenue's appeal, reinstating the Ld. AO's order based on the lack of concrete evidence to support the execution of civil contracts by the assessee and the genuineness of the parties involved in the cash credits. The estimation of income at 8% on the turnover was deemed appropriate, considering the rejection of the books of account and the absence of substantial evidence provided by the assessee.