Anil Hanumant Choudhari Vs ITO (ITAT Pune)
Stamp Duty vs RR Value Confusion: AO’s Addition of 75.33L Remanded ; Joint Purchase Not a Bar, Tribunal Restores Full 54F Claim for Re-Examination
Assessee sold two small plots during AY 2020-21 & invested the entire sale consideration of Rs.1,55,00,000 in a new residential property purchased jointly with his wife, claiming deduction u/s 54F. AO completed assessment ex-parte u/s 144 r.w.s 144B by wrongly comparing the ready reckoner value of Rs.84,63,000 with the stamp duty paid of Rs.9,30,000, treating the difference of Rs.75,33,000 as misreported stamp duty value & added it to income. AO also held that both returns filed by Assessee were invalid.
CIT(A)/NFAC dismissed the appeal holding that invalid returns made the appeal itself infructuous & also held that, being a joint purchase, Assessee was eligible only for 50% of deduction u/s 54F.
Before Tribunal, Assessee demonstrated with sale deeds, purchase deed & bank statements that the entire consideration was paid by Assessee alone, and the wife’s name was included only for convenience. Tribunal relied on Delhi HC in Ravindra Kumar Arora & Mumbai ITAT in Jay Bharat Mehta holding that full deduction u/s 54F is allowable even in joint purchase when entire investment is by Assessee.
