Praveen Tayal Vs DCIT (ITAT Delhi)
When Quantum Falls, Penalty Must Follow: Delhi ITAT Deletes 270A Penalty After 153A Assessments Are Quashed
Delhi ITAT, Delhi Bench ‘G’, in Praveen Tayal Vs DCIT (ITA Nos.2074 & 2075/Del/2025; AYs 2017-18 & 2018-19; order dated 18-12-2025), allowed the assessee’s appeals and deleted penalties levied u/s 270A.
The Tribunal noted that the quantum assessments u/s 153A r.w.s. 144 for the relevant years had already been quashed by a co-ordinate bench of the ITAT on the ground of invalid approval u/s 153D. Once the foundation assessment itself stood annulled, the penalty proceedings initiated thereon could not survive independently. Applying the settled principle that penalty is consequential and parasitic on quantum, the Tribunal held that the 270A penalties had no legs to stand.
Accordingly, all grounds raised by the assessee were allowed and the penalties were deleted in full, reinforcing that when the assessment goes, the penalty must automatically fall
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT DELHI
Both the captioned appeals are filed by the assessee against the common orders passed by Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)- 03, Gurgoan [CIT(A) in short] dated 31.01.2025 for Assessment Years 2017-18 and 2018-19 confirming the levy of penalty u/s 270A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the Act).
