Jain Natural Pickles Private Limited Vs ACIT (ITAT Jodhpur)
In a ruling that prioritizes the rectification of an inadvertent error over a strict interpretation of tax procedure, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in Jodhpur has allowed an appeal filed by Jain Natural Pickles Private Limited. The Tribunal set aside the orders of the lower revenue authorities, directing them to correct an assessment that had led to the impermissible double taxation of the same income. The judgment also condoned a 134-day delay in the filing of the appeal, finding that the assessee had provided a sufficient cause for the delay.
The dispute arose from a survey conducted under Section 133A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, at the premises of Jain Natural Pickles Private Limited. During the survey, the company voluntarily surrendered a total income of Rs. 64,35,168, which was related to two different assessment years: 2015-16 and 2016-17. For the assessment year 2015-16, the Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax (DCIT) had already completed the assessment and brought a portion of the surrendered income, specifically Rs. 42,99,430, to tax. This left a balance of Rs. 21,35,738, which was related to the assessment year 2016-17.
However, while filing the return of income for the assessment year 2016-17, the assessee made an administrative mistake. Instead of offering only the balance amount of Rs. 21,35,738 for taxation, it inadvertently offered the entire original surrendered sum of Rs. 64,35,168 once again. The Assessing Officer (AO), in completing the assessment for this year, simply accepted the return as filed without noticing that a large portion of the income had already been taxed in the previous year. This resulted in the same income being taxed twice.
