Vijay Bahadur Vs ITO (ITAT Chandigarh)
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Chandigarh, partly allowed the assessee’s appeal for Assessment Year 2018–19 against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), NFAC, arising from an assessment framed under Sections 147 read with 144B of the Income-tax Act. The assessee had not filed a return of income. The case was reopened after it was found that the assessee had traded in bitcoins amounting to ₹25.07 lakh. The assessee stated that he was engaged in a bitcoin investment and trading referral network, arranging prospective investors and earning referral service incentives in the form of bitcoins, which were subsequently encashed and credited to his bank account.
The assessee offered presumptive income under Section 44AD on receipts of ₹30.35 lakh, which was rejected by the Assessing Officer, who brought the entire receipts to tax. The CIT(A) confirmed the assessment due to the absence of representation by the assessee. The Tribunal observed that the assessee had provided business support services and earned referral commission income in the nature of service income. As the assessee had not maintained relevant records or regular books of account, the Tribunal held that the income could be determined on a presumptive basis under Section 44ADA at 50% of the gross receipts. The Assessing Officer was directed to recompute the income accordingly. The Tribunal found no infirmity in the reassessment proceedings initiated by the Assessing Officer. The appeal was partly allowed.
