Section 144 Assessment Upheld, Cash Addition Slashed Section 115BBE Disallowed – Partial Relief to Transporter

TUFEL Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi) ITAT Delhi partly allowed the assessee’s appeal for AY 2017-18 in TUFEL, a small goods carriage operator, granting substantial relief both on quantum and rate of tax, while sustaining the validity of best-judgment assessment u/s 144. On jurisdiction, the Tribunal rejected the challenge to assessment u/s 144, holding that once the belated return filed in response to notice u/s 142(1) was treated as invalid, the AO was not required to issue notice u/s 143(2). Service of notice through ITBA could not be disproved by the assessee, and issuance of show-cause notices befo...