Gopinath Sivaraman Vs ITO (ITAT Chennai)
The requirement u/s 249(4)(b) for payment of advance tax as a precondition for admitting appeal has to be calculated only on income admitted by assessee; Additions or taxes on assessed income has no relevance for admission
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Chennai, decided six appeals filed by an assessee against a common order passed by the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC) dated 09.10.2025 for Assessment Year (AY) 2020–21. Since the facts and issues involved in all the appeals were identical, the Tribunal disposed of them through a common order.
The assessee, an individual, had not filed a return of income under Section 139 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for AY 2020–21. Based on information available on the department’s Insight portal indicating significant financial transactions during Financial Year 2019–20—such as cash deposits and withdrawals in bank accounts—the Assessing Officer formed an opinion that income had escaped assessment. Accordingly, a notice under Section 148 was issued on 22 March 2024 after following the procedure prescribed under Section 148A.
The assessee did not respond to the notice issued under Section 148 nor to the notices issued under Section 142(1). Consequently, the Assessing Officer proceeded to complete an ex parte assessment under Section 144. In the assessment order, the entire cash deposits of ₹10,15,000 in the assessee’s bank account were treated as unexplained money under Section 69A. The Assessing Officer also estimated business income at 12% of the bank deposits by treating the cash deposits as business receipts. In addition, interest income from a savings bank account and from another individual was brought to tax based on information contained in Form 26AS.
