Ashok Uttamrao Kulkarni Vs NFAC (ITAT Pune)
₹4.36 Crore Cash Deposits Were Not Necessarily Income — Stamp Vendor’s Bank Credits & Matching Stamp-Duty Payments Must Be Examined Before Addition u/s 69A
Summary: The Pune ITAT dealt with an interesting case where cash deposits of ₹4.36 crore in the bank account of a registered stamp vendor were treated by the AO as unexplained money u/s 69A. The assessee contended that the deposits represented amounts collected from customers for purchasing e-challans towards stamp duty, which were thereafter transferred to the Government account, while his real income was only a small commission of ₹50 per challan. The Tribunal found considerable force in this explanation & restored the matter to the AO for verification of the complete trail of cash credits vis-à-vis corresponding NEFT payments for stamp duty.
Facts — ₹4.36 Crore Deposited, No Return Filed
The Income Tax Department received information from DIT(System) under “Multi Year NMS Type” risk profiling that the assessee had deposited cash aggregating to ₹4,36,79,150 during FY 2015-16. Since no return of income had been filed for AY 2016-17, the AO formed a belief that income had escaped assessment & issued notice u/s 148.
The assessee did not comply with the notices, including notice u/s 142(1) & the show-cause notice requiring him to explain the source of the cash deposits. Consequently, the AO proceeded ex parte u/s 144 & treated the entire bank deposits of ₹4,36,79,150 as unexplained money u/s 69A. Assessment was accordingly completed u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 & 144B on 19.03.2022.
