Jyoti Santosh Parakh Vs ITO (ITAT Pune)
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Pune bench, has set aside an order from the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC) and remitted the tax appeal of Smt. Jyoti Santosh Parakh back for a fresh hearing. The case involves cash deposits made during the 2016 demonetization period, and the Tribunal’s decision on February 6, 2025, highlighted deficiencies in the NFAC’s earlier order, particularly its failure to provide reasons for its conclusion.
The dispute relates to the Assessment Year 2017-18, which covers the period when the Indian government announced the demonetization of ₹500 and ₹1000 currency notes. Taxpayers who made significant cash deposits during the subsequent exchange/deposit window came under scrutiny by the Income Tax Department. In this instance, the case of Smt. Jyoti Santosh Parakh was selected for examination based on information regarding cash deposits in her bank account.
Records available to the Assessing Officer (AO) indicated that during the demonetization period, specifically from November 9, 2016, to December 30, 2016, Smt. Parakh had deposited cash amounting to ₹18,70,000 into her bank account maintained with the Nasik Merchant Co-operative Bank Limited, Sangamner Branch, Ahmednagar. The tax authorities noted that the assessee had not filed her return of income for the relevant assessment year and, consequently, had not disclosed the source of these deposits or paid any taxes potentially due.
