St. Anthonys Education Trust Vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai)
In the case of St. Anthonys Education Trust vs. ITO, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Mumbai deleted an income addition imposed on the trust for delayed submission of Form 10B, an audit report essential for tax exemption under Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The case concerns the assessment year (AY) 2022-23, where the trust initially declared an income of Rs. 12,538 but was later assessed at Rs. 62,56,517 due to the denial of tax exemption based on the deemed late filing of Form 10B. The Centralized Processing Center (CPC) assessed the higher amount, citing that the trust had not filed the required audit report within the specified deadline, raising a tax demand of Rs. 22,78,210. However, the trust argued that the filing occurred within the extended due date set by a CBDT circular.
The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] dismissed the trust’s appeal, suggesting that the trust should file a condonation application under Section 119(2) for the delayed audit report. During the ITAT proceedings, the trust presented that both the return of income and Form 10B were submitted by November 5, 2022, which fell within the extended deadline provided by CBDT Circular No. 20/2022. This circular extended the filing deadline for AY 2022-23 to November 7, 2022, instead of October 31, 2022.
