Yogesh Shyamsunder Maheshwari Vs DCIT (ITAT Nagpur)
The Nagpur Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal adjudicated a batch of appeals filed by different assessees against separate orders of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)/National Faceless Appeal Centre under Section 250 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, concerning Assessment Years 2020-21 and 2021-22. Since common issues were involved, the appeals were disposed of through a consolidated order.
The common issue was whether amounts received by employees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) under the BSNL Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2019 constituted retrenchment compensation and, consequently, capital receipts not chargeable to tax under Section 10(10B) of the Act.
The assessees were BSNL employees. Following the Union Cabinet’s approval dated 23.10.2019 of the BSNL and MTNL revival plan, the Government decided to reduce the workforce through the BSNL Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2019 for employees aged 50 years and above, with ex-gratia compensation payable upon retirement.
The assessees had originally claimed exemption under Section 10(10C), limited to ₹5 lakh, and paid tax on the balance where the compensation exceeded ₹5 lakh. They subsequently claimed that the entire compensation was exempt under Section 10(10B). This claim was made for the first time before the CIT(A). In some cases, the CIT(A) dismissed appeals on delay, while in others the new claim was not entertained on the ground that it should have been made through a revised return.
