On-Money Addition for Flat Purchase Deleted; Builder’s General Statement Alone Not Enough

Advertisement Indrajit Mahendra Khona Vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai) The Assessing Officer added ₹5.75 lakh as alleged “on-money” paid by the assessee for purchase of a flat, solely on the basis of a statement of a key person of the builder group recorded during a search on the builder. In that statement, the builder had made only a general remark that in some cases cash components of about ₹10–15 lakh per flat were taken, without naming the assessee, identifying his specific flat, or referring to any concrete transaction. The Tribunal found that there was no independent or corroborative ev...