Case Law Details
Ankit Khandelwal Vs Assessing Officer (ITAT Indore)
In the case between Ankit Khandelwal and the Assessing Officer (AO), Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Indore, a notable verdict was delivered. Central to the appeal was a dispute regarding the non-receipt of faceless assessment/e-assessment notice which resulted in a penalty under Section 272A(1)(d). ITAT’s decision to dismiss this penalty forms the crux of our analysis in this piece.
At the core of this case is the penalty of Rs. 30,000 imposed by the AO on Mr. Khandelwal for not complying with three statutory notices issued during assessment proceedings. However, these notices were only sent electronically to the registered email of Khandelwal’s previous counsel during the initial period of the Faceless Assessment/E-Assessment implementation. Citing the unfamiliarity of many with online interfaces during that time, the assessee’s representative (AR) argued for the application of Section 273B, asserting that failure to comply was due to a reasonable cause, not malice or non-cooperative intentions.
This argument proved pivotal, and the Tribunal agreed, stating that the AO’s failure to send physical notices, coupled with the notices being sent to the old counsel’s email, were reasonable grounds for non-compliance. Thus, the Tribunal quashed the penalty, granting relief to Mr. Khandelwal under Section 273B, which provides for exemption in cases of genuine reasons for failure to comply.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT INDORE
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