Smt Sweety Agarwal Vs ITO (ITAT Kolkata)
The ITAT Kolkata considered an appeal against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), NFAC, for AY 2018-19. The principal issue was whether cash deposits of ₹86,98,551 in the assessee’s State Bank of India account could be treated as income.
The assessee was the proprietor of M/s Ekta Telecom and acted as a commission agent for Idea Mobile Commerce Services Ltd. and Aditya Birla Idea Payment Bank Ltd., which provided Direct Money Transfer (DMT) and Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) facilities through online applications. The assessee accepted cash from customers on behalf of these companies and deposited the amounts into the bank account before remitting the funds to the companies through NEFT/RTGS. The assessee earned commission of less than 1% on the total amount transferred.
The Assessing Officer reopened the assessment under Sections 147 and 148 after noting cash and cheque deposits and commission receipts reflected in the taxpayer annual summary. Although the assessee filed a return declaring income of ₹1,55,110 and explained that the deposits represented customer funds collected for money transfer services, the Assessing Officer was not satisfied with the explanation and added ₹86,98,557 as unexplained income. The CIT(A) upheld the addition, observing that the assessee had not produced sufficient evidence before the lower authorities.
