Skytop Builders Private Limited Vs Assessment Unit (ITAT Bangalore Bench)
Spam Folder Delayed the Appeal, but Double Disallowance Needed a Recheck: 882-Day Delay Condoned; Claims U/s s 36(1)(va) & 40(a)(ia) Restored—Bangalore ITAT
Summary: The Bangalore ITAT condoned an extraordinary delay of 882 days after accepting that the CIT(A)’s order was automatically diverted to the spam folder of the company’s registered email account & the accountant handling tax matters had abruptly left employment. On merits, the Tribunal restored disallowances of ₹2.31 lakh u/s 36(1)(va) & ₹29.88 lakh u/s 40(a)(ia) to verify whether the assessee had already made corresponding suo motu disallowances & whether the payees had offered the relevant amounts to tax.
Assessment Triggered by TDS Discrepancies
The assessee-company was engaged in construction, formation of building layouts, sale of sites & earning layout-formation income. It filed its return for AY 2018-19 declaring total income of ₹59,68,670.
The return was selected for scrutiny because the disallowance made by the assessee in its computation was lower than the amount reported by the tax auditor.
The tax auditor had reported failure to deduct TDS on a payment of ₹3 lakh, against which the assessee had disallowed ₹90,000, being 30% of the expenditure u/s 40(a)(ia).
