Lakhvir Kaur Vs DCIT/ACIT(Cen)-2 (ITAT Chandigarh)
For A.Y. 2020-21, AO assessed income at ₹85.68 lakhs with additions including:
(i) ₹8 lakhs foreign travel,
(ii) ₹6.93 lakhs vehicle expenses,
(iii) ₹3.19 lakhs interest disallowance,
(iv) ₹34,110 jewellery. CIT(A) restricted total additions to ₹7.11 lakhs by partly sustaining travel (₹4 lakhs), vehicle (₹2.77 lakhs), & jewellery (₹34,110).
Tribunal found that foreign trip was funded by husband & daughter, with evidence of payment through bank & accepted facts. No incriminating material was found during search. Thus, foreign travel addition deleted. Similarly, 20% vehicle disallowance was unjustified, as household withdrawals were sufficient & no incriminating material existed. Jewellery addition of ₹34,110 also deleted, since withdrawals & family status justified purchase.
For A.Y. 2021-22, AO made a major addition of ₹1.49 crore as on-money on poultry farm sale, based solely on a photocopy of a WhatsApp agreement allegedly showing higher consideration of ₹2.43 crores (vs registered deed ₹94 lakhs + separate bird/feed agreement ₹18.8 lakhs). CIT(A) confirmed. Tribunal held:
- The photocopy of scanned agreement dated 08.09.2020 had no corroboration, cheque details, or signatures of the buyer firm.
- Sale deed was executed with Krishna Poultries, a partnership firm incorporated after the alleged agreement date, not with individual Latiza named in the seized document.
- Husband’s statement u/s 131(1A) clarified that due to bird flu outbreak, price was renegotiated & cash was never received.
- No buyer/witness was examined & no corroborative evidence of cash receipt was found in search.
Tribunal held that addition based on an uncorroborated photocopy/WhatsApp document was unsustainable. It also deleted jewellery addition of ₹4.02 lakhs & car expense disallowance of ₹1.91 lakhs for similar reasons as AY 2020-21.
