Smt. Teena Bethala Vs ITO (ITAT Bangalore)
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Bengaluru partly allowed the assessee’s appeals for Assessment Years 2011-12 and 2012-13. The appeals challenged the orders of the CIT(A) which had upheld an addition of ₹6,30,000 under Section 69A of the Income Tax Act for AY 2011-12. This addition related to cash deposits in the assessee’s bank account, identified through information from the Investigation Wing. The Assessing Officer (AO) initiated reassessment and treated these deposits as unexplained money. However, the ITAT noted that these deposits, representing loan repayments from M/s. Rippsons, were recorded in the assessee’s books of account, along with the creditor’s details. The ITAT held that Section 69A applies to unrecorded money or assets. Since the transactions were recorded, an addition under this section was deemed incorrect. The ITAT relied on a precedent from the ITAT Mumbai Bench in Karthik Construction Co. which held that Section 69A cannot be invoked for recorded entries. Consequently, the ITAT deleted the addition of ₹6,30,000, partly allowing the appeal for AY 2011-12. Other grounds, including the challenge to the reassessment jurisdiction (which was not pressed) and interest charges (directed for re-computation), were addressed accordingly. The appeal for AY 2012-13 was also partly allowed, though the specific reasons aren’t detailed in this excerpt.
