Amit Pahuja Vs DCIT (ITAT Mumbai)
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Mumbai, allowed the assessee’s appeal for Assessment Year 2019-20 by quashing the reassessment proceedings initiated under Sections 148A and 148 of the Income-tax Act on jurisdictional and limitation grounds. Since the reassessment itself was held to be invalid, the Tribunal did not examine the merits of the addition made under Section 80GGC.
The assessee had filed the original return of income on 11.08.2019 declaring total income of Rs.8,56,340. Subsequently, a search under Section 132 was conducted on 07.09.2022 in the case of Rashtriya Samajwadi Party (Secular). Based on information received through the Risk Management Strategy (RMS) system, the Assessing Officer (AO) issued a notice under Section 148A(b) on 29.03.2023 alleging that the assessee had wrongly claimed a deduction of Rs.2,00,000 under Section 80GGC in respect of a donation made to the political party, which the Revenue considered to be a bogus transaction. After considering the assessee’s reply, the AO passed an order under Section 148A(d), issued a notice under Section 148, and completed the reassessment by disallowing the deduction and adding Rs.2,00,000 to the assessee’s income. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) upheld the reassessment and the disallowance, leading to the present appeal.
