Rakesh Jain Vs ITO (ITAT Bangalore)
NRI Appeal Delay Condoned: ITAT Finds ‘Sufficient Cause’ in Defunct Email Service; Assessment Notice Delivery Flaw: ITAT Voids Order Sent to Inactive Email ID; Tax Justice for Senior NRI: ITAT Restores Appeal Quashed for 1695-Day Delay; Old Email, New Hope – ITAT Bangalore condones 1695-day delay for NRI who never got his assessment order
Assessee, a 75-year-old NRI settled in Canada since 1974, filed return declaring ₹32.74 lakh. AO passed assessment u/s 144/143(3) on 20.12.2018, treating his Canadian house as deemed let-out & adding ₹12.59 lakh as income from property.
Appeal before CIT(A) was filed on 11.09.2023-after 1695 days. Delay was explained as all notices & orders were sent to old official email [email protected], which became inactive after his contract ended in 2016. He learnt about the assessment only in Aug-2022 when mail was received on his personal ID [email protected]. CIT(A) refused to condone delay, calling explanation vague & holding that assessee failed to update his contact details.
Tribunal noted that Department already knew the personal email since 2013 & accepted that the delay was bona fide. Being a senior NRI with no knowledge of proceedings, failure to receive notices on a defunct ID was a reasonable cause. Day-to-day explanation was not required.
