Penalty for Non-Compliance Deleted as Venial Breach Where Assessments Accepted Returned Income

Shamji Kanji Zaru Vs DCIT (ITAT Mumbai) For AYs 2015-16 to 2021-22, penalties of ₹20,000 per year were levied for alleged non-compliance with notices under sections 143(2)/142(1) in assessments completed ex-parte under section 153C read with section 144. Importantly, in all these years the Assessing Officer ultimately accepted the returned income and made no additions, resulting in nil tax demand (as reflected in the year-wise returned vs. assessed income table). The assessee explained that the e-mail ID registered on the tax portal belonged to a relative, who did not forward the notices; th...