DCIT Vs Credit Suisse Services (India) private Limited (ITAT Pune)
The appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Pune concerned the allowability of a deduction under Section 80G of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in respect of donations forming part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure for the assessment year 2020–21. The Revenue challenged the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Pune-12, which had allowed the assessee’s claim for deduction of ₹4,55,13,521 under Section 80G, subject to verification by the Assessing Officer (AO).
The Assessing Officer had originally disallowed the Section 80G claim on the ground that the donations constituted CSR expenditure, which is not allowable as a business deduction under Section 37 of the Act. According to the Revenue, once such expenditure was disallowed under Section 37, it could not be allowed under Section 80G. The CIT(A), however, accepted the assessee’s contention that the donations were made without any consideration, were irrevocable in nature, and were paid to institutions duly registered under Section 80G(5). It was also noted that the disallowance of CSR expenditure operates only for the purposes of Section 37 while computing business income and does not bar a deduction under other provisions if the statutory conditions are satisfied.
