Bank passbook cannot be treated as books of accounts

Smt. Ramilaben B. Patel Vs Income Tax Officer (ITAT Ahmedabad)

This tribunal in the case of Rameshbhai Somabhai Patel vs. ITO (Supra) has held that the bank account of the assessee is not considered as part of the books of accounts.The relevant part of this order of the Tribunal is already reproduced above.

From the above order, we note that the bank statement is not considered as books of accounts. Therefore, any sum found credited in the bank passbook cannot be treated as an unexplained cash credit. However, we note that the above order was not produced before the authorities below. Therefore, in the interest of justice and fair play we are inclined to restore this matter to the file of AO for fresh adjudication in accordance with the provisions of law and after considering the ratio laid down by the tribunal in the case of Rameshbhai Somabhai Patel (supra). Thus the ground of appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.

FULL TEXT OF THE ITAT JUDGMENT

The captioned appeal has been filed at the instance of the Revenue against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) – Gandhinagar [CIT(A) in short] vide appeal no.CIT(A)/GNR/520/2013-14 dated 20.10.2014 arising in the matter of assessment order passed under s.143(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (here-in-after referred to as “the Act”) dated 28.02.2014 relevant to the Assessment Year (AY) 2011-2012.

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