9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (7) TMI 1280X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e to establish that the money had been remitted by the assessee from his bank account held with Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong to his NRE account in India, in our considered view, the assessee has discharged the primary onus regarding the source of funds being outside of India and accordingly, the addition made by the assessing officer is liable to be deleted looking into the instant facts. Appeal of the assessee is allowed. - Smt. Annapurna Gupta, Accountant Member And Shri Siddhartha Nautiyal, Judicial Member For the Appellant : Shri Rakesh Kapoor, A.R. For the Respondent : Shri Ankit Jain, Sr. DR ORDER PER SIDDHARTHA NAUTIYAL - JUDICIAL MEMBER: This appeal has been filed by the assessee against the order passed by the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (DRP-2), Mumbai-2 vide order 29.12.2023 passed for Assessment Year 2018-19. 2. The assessee has taken the following grounds of appeal:- 1. Addition of Rs. 2,17,48,600/ u/s 69A rws 115BBE Assessee is an Israeli citizen ( around 51 yrs old) holding Israeli Passport and a Non Resident as he does not comply with either of the basic condition per provision of Sec. 6(1). He carries the business of tiles, ceramics in I Hong Kong. He has no busi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... k account outside of India. However, the assessing officer did not agree with the contentions of the assessee and added a sum of Rs. 2, 17, 48, 596/- to the income of the assessee, with the following observations: 4.3. The reply of the assessee is considered but not found to be acceptable. The assessee has submitted that he had earned income from business in Hong Kong during the A.Y.2018-19. The assessee had opened NRE FD account from that income and earned interest, which is exempt u/s. 10(4)(ii) of the IT. Act. The said contention of the assessee is not acceptable because the assessee has failed to submit details as called for in above para 4.1. The assessee in his reply submitted copy of certificate of foreign inward remittance. However, the assessee failed to submit source of remittance. The assessee has not submitted copy of bank accounts maintained in foreign country and supporting documentary evidences for source of amount credited in foreign bank accounts. The assessee had not submitted copy of return of income filed in country of resident and copy of tax residency certificate. The assessee has also failed to submit source of amount transferred from foreign bank account to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oks maintained by the assessee. The opinion of the Assessing Officer for not accepting the explanation offered by the assessee as not satisfactory is required to be based on proper appreciation of material and other attending circumstances available on the record. The opinion of the Assessing Officer is required to be formed objectively with reference to the material on record... Thus, as held by the Ld. A.O., the explanation of the assessee is not satisfactory and the money deposited interbank deposits are held as unexplained money and are deemed income for the financial year in which the investments in form of money ownership are made, the 'Unexplained investments are deemed income for the financial year in which the investments in form of money ownership are made. 7.3.4 On the basis of above discussion, it is concluded that the nature and source of the money in bank deposits made by the applicant assessee have not been adequately or satisfactorily explained. Considering the details presented and the explanations provided, the Panel sustains the adverse findings under Section 69A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The panel, therefore, notes that the amount of Rs. 2,17,48,596/- rem ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... urce of inward fund has been explained by submitting copy of Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate and copy of foreign bank account with Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong showing the transfer of corresponding fund. Accordingly, the Counsel for the assessee submitted that the DRP erred in confirming and treating such deposit as unexplained money under Section 69A of the Act. 6. In response, the Ld. DR placed reliance on the observations made by the assessing officer and DRP in their respective orders. 7. We have heard the rival contentions and perused the material on record. On going to the facts of the instant case, we observe that in the instant facts, the Department has not disputed the non-residential status of the assessee during the impugned year under consideration. The Department has also not brought anything on record to show that the assessee was having any source of income in India, from which the aforesaid deposits were made in the HDFC bank account. Admittedly, the assessee was a non-resident of Israel and had remitted funds from his bank account with Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong to his NRE bank account in HDFC in India. The assessee had also submitted copy of Foreign Inward Remit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d not be subjected to tax in India merely because foreign employers, on instructions of assessee, had remitted a part of amount of salary to assessee's NRE bank account in India. In the case of Shyamal Gopal Chattopadhyay 82 taxmann.com 209 (Kolkata - Trib.) , the ITAT held that where foreign employer directly credited salary for services rendered outside India into NRE bank account of non-resident seafarer in India, same could not be brought to tax in India in terms of Section 5. In the case of Arvind Singh Chauhan 42 taxmann.com 285 (Agra - Trib.) , the Agra ITAT held that salary received by NRI from foreign company for rendering services outside India as crew on merchant vessels and tankers plying on international routes, is not taxable in India merely because said salary was remitted to India from foreign bank account to NRE bank account of assessee in India. In the case of Asim Kumar Bera 85 taxmann.com 275 (Kolkata - Trib.) , the Calcutta ITAT held that salary accruing to a non-resident seafarer for services rendered outside India on a foreign ship shall not be included in total income merely because salary has been credited in NRE account maintained with an Indian Bank b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
