9911796707
TMI Blog2000 (3) TMI 19X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ome has been by way of medical examination fees charged for issuing medical fitness certificates for candidates going to Gulf countries. On December 11, 1996, there was a search under section 132 of the Income-tax Act at the clinic and at the residence of the assessee. During the search, registration books were seized for the period November, 1993, onwards. On a perusal it was noticed that the fees recorded in the registration books exceeded the fees reflected in the cash book. During the course of search operations, he made a declaration of undisclosed income of Rs. 60 lakhs. In the return filed in reply to a notice under section 158BC of the Income-tax Act, he offered the undisclosed income of Rs. 75.60 lakhs which comprised Rs. 13.80 lak ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eriod at Rs. 2.33 crores as against undisclosed income of Rs. 75.60 lakhs disclosed subsequently by the assessee. The assessee is a general physician. He is on the panel of the embassies of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. He has a clinic where the candidates going abroad are registered for medical check-up and then it is his duty to issue fitness certificates. The registration books, which were seized, related to the period November, 1993, onwards. During the course of search operation it was noticed that the cash book of the assessee was prepared on the basis of cash deposits in bank and on the basis of paying-in-slips. When the cash book was compared with the registration book, it was noticed that a number of candidates reflected in the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l. While estimating the undisclosed income under Chapter XIV-B, the Assessing Officer cannot apply a rule of thumb. The Assessing Officer cannot estimate the undisclosed income on an arbitrary basis. We cannot lose sight of the fact that the assessee is a professional. It is highly improbable that his professional income remained constant from 1983-84 (when he was put on the panel) right up to 1996. It is highly improbable that the fees which he was charging in 1993 were the same also during the period 1984, up to November, 1993. We agree with the contention advanced on behalf of the Department that in matters under Chapter XIV-B the Assessing Officer is required to estimate the undisclosed income. We agree with the contention of the Depart ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... case in which unreported sales were detected for a period of 19 days in a year. The Assessing Officer estimated the turnover for the entire period of one year on the basis of the unreported sales for the period of 19 days. The question arose before the Supreme Court is as to whether the Assessing Officer was right in doing so. It was held by the apex court that in a matter involving unreported sales, the Assessing Officer has to proceed on the basis of estimation which involves some amount of guess work. The apex court accordingly upheld the order of the Assessing Officer in estimating the turnover on the basis of the unreported sales for a shorter period. However, in the present matter, we are concerned with block assessment of ten years. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... footing in contrast to the exercise undertaken by the Assessing Officer under Chapter XIV-B where the Assessing Officer has to assess only the undisclosed income. Therefore, the scope of regular assessment is quite different from the scope of assessment under Chapter XIV-B. The regular assessment is to ensure that the assessee had not understated the income or has not computed excessive loss or has not underpaid the tax in any manner whereas what is assessed under Chapter XIV-B is only the undisclosed income for the block. period and. not the income or loss of the previous year which is only done in the normal regular assessment under section 143(3). In a large number of cases we find that the above distinction is not kept in mind by the As ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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