The ITAT restored an NRI’s tax appeal, accepting the argument that non-compliance before the lower authorities was not deliberate, as the taxpayer was abroad and faced difficulties accessing records during the pandemic. The Tribunal ruled that the appeal should be decided on its merits, setting aside the ex-parte order and directing the AO to verify the factual claims regarding the assessment year and capital gains.
A reassessment order was challenged because the Section 148 notice was issued in the name of the assessee who had died a year earlier. The ITAT ruled that a notice issued to a deceased or non-existent person is non est in law, deeming the assumption of jurisdiction and the entire reassessment process void ab initio.
The ITAT Mumbai quashed reassessment proceedings, declaring the assessment order void ab initio due to critical procedural failures, including the use of a manual DIN and jurisdictional violation of the Faceless Assessment regime. This ruling affirms the mandatory nature of CBDT Circular No. 19/2019 for all tax orders.
ITAT Kolkata held that reassessment proceedings were invalid as the notice under Section 148 failed to disclose mandatory approval under Section 151. The Tribunal found the reopening to be mechanical and without independent application of mind, rendering the reassessment void ab initio.
The ITAT Mumbai deleted a ₹11.14 lakh cash addition made during a search, ruling that cash found in a common locker belonged to the entire joint family, not just the assessee. The Tribunal held that detailed, contemporaneous records and I-T returns filed by family members, plus an explanation for small accumulated gifts, sufficiently explained the source of the funds, overturning the CIT(A)’s arbitrary and factually incorrect rejection of the evidence.
Delhi ITAT directed the AO to recompute disallowance under Section 14A as per the amended Rule 8D (2016), limiting it to 1 % of investments yielding exempt income. Other Revenue grounds, including 80-IA and leave-encashment, were dismissed.
ITAT Delhi ruled that WhatsApp chats recovered during a search, if corroborated by context and left unrebutted by the assessee, create a statutory presumption of correctness under Section 292C, leading to a sustained addition of ₹9 lakh as unexplained money. The Tribunal also directed the allowance of an 80TTA deduction claim for the abated assessment year (AY 2018-19).
ITAT Bangalore held that delay in filing appeals caused by major heart surgery and prolonged illness constituted a sufficient cause. It restored the dismissed appeals and directed the CIT(A) not to adopt a hypertechnical approach while deciding condonation requests.
The ITAT Delhi quashed reassessment orders for three assessment years (AY 2011-12, 2015-16, 2016-17) based on fundamental legal flaws. The ruling confirms that reassessments are invalid if initiated on wrong or substituted reasons, if they are time-barred (following the Supreme Court’s concession in the Rajeev Bansal case), or if they proceed without valid statutory sanction from the competent authority.
The Tribunal annulled a reassessment after finding the AO wrongly assumed no return was filed. It held that a notice under Section 148 issued without applying mind is invalid, reinforcing that “reason to believe” must rest on verified facts.
