On-Money Addition for Flat Purchase Deleted; Builder’s General Statement Alone Not Enough

Indrajit Mahendra Khona Vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai) The Assessing Officer added ₹5.75 lakh as alleged “on-money” paid by the assessee for purchase of a flat, solely on the basis of a statement of a key person of the builder group recorded during a search on the builder. In that statement, the builder had made only a general remark that in some cases cash components of about ₹10–15 lakh per flat were taken, without naming the assessee, identifying his specific flat, or referring to any concrete transaction. The Tribunal found that there was no independent or corroborative evidence against th...