Sangeet Kathuria Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi)
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Delhi Bench has partly allowed an appeal filed by Sangeet Kathuria against an order from the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), which had dismissed her appeal as not maintainable due to non-payment of advance tax. The ITAT has remanded the case back to the Assessing Officer (AO) for a fresh, de novo adjudication, emphasizing that Section 249(4)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, cannot be invoked when no income has been admitted and, consequently, no advance tax liability exists.
The case, ITA No.5888/Del/2024 for Assessment Year (AY) 2015-16, originated from an assessment order passed under Section 147 read with Section 144 of the Act by the Assessing Officer, NaFAC, Delhi, on February 21, 2024.
Sangeet Kathuria, an individual assessee, had not filed any return of income for AY 2015-16. Information received through the Income Tax Department’s Non-filers Monitoring System (NMS) indicated that her income exceeded Rs. 15 lakhs, yet no income tax return had been filed. This led to the issuance of a notice under Section 148 of the Act on April 8, 2022, seeking to reopen her case.
Despite being provided with sufficient opportunities by the AO, the assessee failed to file a response or a return in reply to the Section 148 notice. This non-compliance resulted in the completion of an ex parte assessment under Section 144 read with Section 147 of the Act, with the total income determined at Rs. 94,38,788/-.
