Ananda Aqua Exports Vs ITO (ITAT Visakhapatnam)
The appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Visakhapatnam, was filed by the assessee against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre, dated 10 October 2024 for Assessment Year (AY) 2017-18. The order under challenge arose from an assessment order dated 23 May 2023 passed under Sections 143(3) read with 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The assessee had originally filed its return of income declaring a loss of ₹2,22,563. The case was selected for scrutiny primarily because the assessee had deposited cash amounting to ₹69,43,000 during the demonetization period. It was also observed that the total credits in the assessee’s bank account amounted to ₹7,94,44,149, whereas the turnover declared by the assessee was ₹5,59,44,879.
Initially, a notice under Section 148 of the Act was issued on 30 June 2021 under the unamended provisions of the law. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal and CBDT Instruction No. 1/2022 dated 11 May 2022, such notices were deemed to be show cause notices under Section 148A(b). In accordance with these directions, the Assessing Officer issued a notice under Section 148A(b), and after considering the assessee’s reply dated 15 June 2022, passed an order under Section 148A(d) on 26 July 2022. A fresh notice under Section 148 was issued on the same date.
