Subhash Krishnappa Vs DCIT (ITAT Bangalore)
Vegetable Exports Are Not Automatically Agricultural Income: ITAT Sends ₹5.67 Crore Case Back for Proof
A person exports vegetables and receives ₹5.67 crore. Does that fact alone make the receipts exempt agricultural income? In Subhash Krishnappa v. DCIT, the Bangalore Tribunal gave the assessee an opportunity to establish his claim, but did not grant the exemption outright. It set aside the orders below and sent the matter back to the AO to examine the documents that had not been produced during the earlier proceedings.
The entire export receipt prompted reassessment
Subhash Krishnappa described himself as an agriculturist. He had not filed a return for AY 2019–20. The Department received information that he had received ₹5,66,95,814 in connection with exports during FY 2018–19 and issued a notice under section 148.
The assessee did not respond to that notice or to the notice under section 142(1), although the notices were sent to his registered email address. The AO then issued a show-cause notice proposing to treat the amount received as business turnover and estimate income at 12% of the receipts. There was no response to that notice either. The AO consequently completed the assessment on that basis.
