Jyotsna Ranchhodbhai Patel Vs DCIT (ITAT Ahmedabad)
The appeal before the ITAT Ahmedabad arose from an order of the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC) dated 2 May 2025 for Assessment Year (AY) 2017-18, confirming a penalty imposed under Section 270A of the Income Tax Act for alleged misreporting of income.
The appeal was filed with a delay of 209 days. The assessee, a 74-year-old senior citizen living with her 80-year-old husband, explained that both were unfamiliar with the Income Tax Department’s online portal and had no family members in India to assist them, as their children were settled abroad. The appellate order received through email was inadvertently overlooked due to old age, and the appeal was filed only after the Department pursued the demand. Considering these circumstances, the Tribunal condoned the delay.
The assessee had filed her return of income for AY 2017-18 on 28 October 2017 declaring a total income of ₹1,81,60,310. During scrutiny assessment under CASS, the Assessing Officer noticed that a short-term capital loss of ₹9,05,105 had been debited to the profit and loss account. The same amount had also been reduced from the “Net Profit Before Tax” in Schedule BP of the return to consider it under another head of income, but it was ultimately not reflected under any other head. When this discrepancy was pointed out, the assessee admitted that it was a bona fide mistake and agreed to the addition of ₹18,10,210 to her business income. The Assessing Officer accordingly made the addition and initiated penalty proceedings under Section 270A for misreporting of income. A separate penalty order dated 30 March 2022 imposed a penalty of ₹12,52,952, being 200% of the tax sought to be evaded. The first appellate authority dismissed the assessee’s appeal, leading to the present appeal before the Tribunal.
