Ravindra Gaur Vs ITO (ITAT Jaipur)
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Jaipur has ruled in favor of Ravindra Gaur, a senior citizen and Non-Resident Indian (NRI), directing the Income Tax Officer (ITO) to delete an addition of Rs. 86,00,000/- to his income. The case originated from information held by the Assessing Officer (AO) regarding a significant cash deposit in Gaur’s bank account. However, the ITAT found that the account in question was a Non-Resident External (NRE) account, into which Indian Rupees cash deposits are not permitted, only foreign currency. The Tribunal noted that the AO had failed to gather accurate information from the bank before deeming the deposit as unexplained cash. Crucially, as an NRI residing outside India for over 30 years, any foreign currency deposit, even if considered as such, could not be treated as income taxable in India under the provisions of the Income-tax Act. The ITAT observed from the bank statement that the funds were indeed wired from outside India, not deposited as cash. Consequently, the credit was determined not to be income chargeable to tax in India, leading the Tribunal to disallow the remand of the case and instead direct the immediate deletion of the Rs. 86 lac addition.
