Case Law Details
P.A. Logistics Vs The Additional (Kerala High Court)
Kerala High Court held that completion of the assessment on the basis of best judgment alleging that petitioner had not responded to pre-assessment notice is unsustainable as the notices were served to the e-mail address of the dissolved firm.
Facts- The petitioner is an assessee under the Income Tax Act, 1961. For the assessment year 2017-2018, a notice was issued to the petitioner under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, followed by notices under Section 142(1) of the Income Tax Act. It appears that these initial notices were issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer and some of these notices were responded to by the petitioner. Following amendments to the Income Tax Act, 1961, with effect from 01-04-2021, the assessment was shifted from the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer to the National Faceless Assessment Center. The National Faceless Assessment Center had issued pre-assessment notices to the petitioner which, according to the petitioner, never came to the notice of the petitioner. The National Faceless Assessment Center therefore completed the assessment on best judgment basis and concluding that the petitioner had not responded to the pre-assessment notices issued by the National Faceless Assessment Center.
Conclusion- The petitioner is not legally entitled to any notice before the proceedings were transferred to the National Faceless Assessment Centre. The National Faceless Assessment Centre has thereafter issued notices to the petitioner in the E-mail address of the dissolved firm. The National Faceless Assessment Centre was clearly aware that the firm had been dissolved and the business had been discontinued on the basis of the replies filed earlier by the petitioner before the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer. An assessment order suggests that this information was available with the National Faceless Assessment Centre, when it proceeded to complete the assessment on the basis of best judgment and on the basis that the petitioner had not responded to the pre-assessment notices.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF KERALA HIGH COURT
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
Author Bio
