Rimple Saxena Vs ITO (ITAT Pune)
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Pune allowed the appeal of Rimple Saxena, deleting the Rs. 1.02 crore addition made by the Assessing Officer (AO) as short-term capital gains. The dispute arose after the AO found that Saxena had not filed her income tax return for the assessment year 2013-14, despite selling an immovable property for Rs. 1.02 crore. Consequently, the AO issued a notice under Section 148 and later passed an ex parte assessment order under Section 144, treating the entire sale consideration as the assessee’s income. When Saxena failed to respond to the notices, her appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] was dismissed for non-prosecution. She then approached the ITAT, seeking relief.
Before the ITAT, Saxena’s counsel argued that the property belonged to her husband, Sourabh Satish Saxena, and that she was only a secondary nameholder. Her husband had already declared the sale in his tax return and paid the required taxes. The tribunal reviewed the assessment order of Saxena’s husband, confirming that the transaction was accounted for and taxed. ITAT found that taxing the same income in Saxena’s hands amounted to double taxation. It also noted that CIT(A) failed to decide the case on its merits, merely dismissing it for non-prosecution. The tribunal ruled in favor of the assessee, ordering the deletion of the wrongful tax addition and allowing the appeal.
