Sumit Jindal Vs DCIT (ITAT Delhi)
Accommodation Entry Provider Case – Tribunal Fixes Commission @ ₹8,000 per Crore Instead of ₹15,000
For A.Y. 2018-19, AO completed assessment u/s 153A r.w.s. 143(3) assessing income at ₹73.98 lakhs against returned income of ₹4.96 lakhs. Additions included ₹62.11 lakhs as commission from accommodation entries & ₹6.90 lakhs as bogus expenses. AO estimated commission at ₹15,000 per crore on ₹431 crores of entries, whereas Assessee admitted only ₹5,000 per crore. CIT(A) confirmed.
Tribunal observed that seized material showed commission rates varying from ₹3,000 to ₹18,000 per crore. In fairness, Tribunal adopted ₹8,000 per crore as reasonable, computing commission at ₹34.48 lakhs. Since Assessee had already declared ₹2.53 lakhs, balance addition was directed to be reduced, granting partial relief. On expenses, Tribunal held that freight & labour charges were bogus as no real goods movement existed, sustaining disallowance of ₹4.06 lakhs, while allowing balance. Protective additions made in dummy firms were deleted as substantive addition stood confirmed in Assessee’s hands.
For A.Y. 2019-20, penalty of ₹1.50 lakhs u/s 271B was levied for delay in filing tax audit report. Assessee pleaded that delay was due to seizure of laptops & pen drives during search, with data recovery taking time. However, Tribunal held that seized material was returned by 24.04.2019, leaving ample time before due date of 31.10.2019. Since no evidence was furnished to prove corrupted data claim, explanation was rejected. Tribunal upheld penalty u/s 271B, dismissing appeal.
