International Buddhist Confederation Vs ITO (Delhi High Court)
The Delhi High Court allowed an appeal under Section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 challenging the order dated 22.07.2025 of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Delhi Bench. The substantial question of law framed was whether exemption could be denied merely because the assessee had disclosed income from trust property under the head “income from other sources.”
The appellant is a trust registered under Sections 12A and 80G of the Act with effect from 02.11.2012. For Assessment Year 2017–18, it filed its return declaring total income of Rs. 13,02,000, showing interest income from fixed deposits and bank deposits as “income from other sources.” The return was processed under Section 143(1) on 19.03.2018, assessing income at ‘nil’ and granting refund of the entire TDS deducted along with applicable interest.
Subsequently, the case was selected for scrutiny and an assessment order under Section 143(3) dated 22.11.2019 assessed income at Rs. 13,02,000 as per the return. The appellant contended that showing the interest income under “income from other sources” was inadvertent and that both voluntary contributions of Rs. 1,38,86,836 and interest income of Rs. 13,02,000 had been applied for charitable purposes. The Assessing Officer had accepted expenditure of Rs. 2,42,70,889, exceeding 85% of total income and voluntary contributions.
