Venkatesh Soutoor Tirupati Vs ITO (ITAT Hyderabad)
As regards the cash withdrawals and the marriage gifts from others and gift from his brother as sources for the balance of cash deposit is concerned, I find that the Assessing Officer has held the ATM withdrawals and also 2/3rd of the gifts at the time of marriage as sources for redeposits into the Bank A/c as unbelievable. In my opinion, the entire ATM withdrawals may not have been used for day to day expenses and some of them might have been utilized for making the deposits into his Bank A/c. Therefore, I am inclined to accept 50% of the same as source for cash deposits. The assessee gets relief accordingly.
Similarly, the marriage gifts from others also, I am inclined to accept 50% of the same as against 1/3rd of the cash gifts accepted by the Assessing Officer. Therefore, 50% of the total amount of Rs.5,79,419/- is accepted as source for cash deposits. As regards gift on account of marriage from his brother, I find that the transaction has been done through banking channel and therefore, it cannot be considered as a source for cash deposits. Therefore, ground relating to this addition is rejected.
FULL TEXT OF THE ITAT JUDGEMENT
This is assessee’s appeal for the A.Y 2015-16 against the order of the CIT (A)-Tirupati, dated 12.06.2019.
2. Brief facts of the case are that the assessee is an individual. On verification of the information available with the Department under NMS data, it was found that during the financial year 2014-15 relevant to the A.Y 2015-16, the assessee has deposited cash aggregating to Rs.24,74,400/- in his a/c with Andhra Bank, Main Branch, Tirupati and that he has not filed his return of income for the said year. Therefore, the Assessing Officer issued a notice u/s 148 on 22.3.2018, in response to which the assessee e-filed his return of income dated 4.12.2018 admitting an income of Rs.1,92,050/-.
3. The Assessing Officer observed that this is the first year of filing of returns by the assessee and therefore, notices u/s 143(2) and 142(1) along with questionnaire were issued to the assessee to furnish the information with regard to the sources of cash deposits along with necessary evidence.
4. In response to the notices issued, the assessee furnished information stating that he is a goldsmith procuring old gold ornaments through auction sales from Andhra Bank and other customers and also selling them (after melting) and that he is not a registered dealer under VAT. The assessee also explained that in addition to the above, the sources for the total credits were also out of his past savings, hand loans, marriage gifts and business receipts admitted u/s 44AD of the Act. The details of the sources for cash deposits given by the assessee are as under:
