NRE Salary Credits Not Unexplained U/s 69A Without Contradictory Evidence: ITAT Pune

Assessment Unit Vs Dharmendra Kumar Dhaka (ITAT Pune)

An NRE Credit Is Not Unexplained Merely Because Salary Slips Are Missing—Accepted Foreign Employment & Bank Trail Defeat s.69A Addition

The Pune Bench of the ITAT has upheld the deletion of an addition of ₹1.44 crore u/s 69A, representing foreign salary credited to an NRI’s NRE account, since the assessee’s employment and residential status had been accepted by the Department in the immediately succeeding assessment year. It also confirmed deletion of a duplicated ₹36-lakh FDR addition. However, a separate addition of ₹2.25 crore based upon a reportable account balance u/s 285BA was restored to the AO because the assessee had not adequately disproved the specific information available with the Department.

The assessee, Dharmendra Kumar Dhaka, was a non-resident employed as a Plant Manager with M/s Frigoglass Jabel Ali FZCO in Nigeria. He did not file a return for AY 2019-20.

Departmental information reflected a fixed deposit of ₹36 lakh and an account balance/value of approximately ₹2.25 crore reported in Form 61B u/s 285BA(1). A notice u/s 148A(b) was issued, but the assessee did not respond. An order u/s 148A(d) was thereafter passed, followed by notice u/s 148 dated 28.03.2023.

The assessee neither filed a return in response to the reopening notice nor responded to the notices issued u/s 142(1) and the subsequent show-cause notices. The AO consequently completed an ex parte reassessment u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 & 144B, determining total income at ₹4,05,82,060.