Suribabu Pallanti Vs ITO (ITAT Visakhapatnam)
In this case before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, the assessee challenged additions made towards alleged undisclosed sale consideration arising from property transactions for AY 2016-17.
The assessee had originally filed a return declaring income of Rs.3,94,000/-. The case was selected for limited scrutiny to verify large cash deposits and purchase/sale of immovable properties. During assessment proceedings, the Assessing Officer found that the assessee had sold thirteen properties for a total consideration of Rs.76,61,000/-. However, according to the Assessing Officer, only ten transactions amounting to Rs.56,24,000/- were disclosed in the return. On this basis, additions aggregating to Rs.20,37,000/- relating to three property transactions were treated as undisclosed sale proceeds.
Before the Commissioner (Appeals), the assessee argued that the additions were based on factual mistakes. The assessee contended that certain sale deeds had been duplicated, one transaction was wrongly considered in the relevant assessment year though it pertained to the succeeding year, and another property belonged to multiple co-owners where only the assessee’s proportional share could be taxed. The Commissioner (Appeals) directed the Assessing Officer to verify the duplication and wrong-year inclusion issues but upheld the addition relating to the co-owned property due to lack of supporting evidence at that stage.
