Kachrulal Jitendra Kumar Vs ITO (ITAT Raipur)
Raipur: The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Raipur Bench, has set aside a reassessment order against M/s Kachrulal Jitendra Kumar for the assessment year 2014-15. The tribunal’s decision, issued on cross-appeals filed by both the assessee firm and the revenue, primarily rests on the grounds that the reassessment notice issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, was time-barred.
The case originated from information received by the Assessing Officer (AO) via the Insight portal, suggesting that the assessee firm had engaged in bogus purchases amounting to Rs. 1,03,77,500 from M/s Tirupati Trading Company, a proprietorship concern of Shri Narad Kumar Sahu. Sahu had previously stated under Section 131(1A) that his concerns were involved in providing bogus bills. Based on this, the AO issued a notice under Section 148 of the Act on June 30, 2021.
This notice, however, fell into a period of legal uncertainty following the Finance Act, 2021, which introduced a new reassessment regime effective April 1, 2021. The Supreme Court, in Union of India & Ors. vs. Ashish Agarwal (2022), addressed the multitude of such notices issued between April 1, 2021, and June 30, 2021. The Apex Court directed that these notices, though issued under the old regime, should be deemed as show-cause notices under Section 148A(b) of the new regime. It mandated that assessing officers provide information to assessees within 30 days and allow two weeks for a response, after which orders under Section 148A(d) could be passed, followed by a fresh notice under Section 148.
