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2015 (8) TMI 470 - HC - Income TaxDisallowance the commission paid to the agents - agents were appointed for selling Indian Made Foreign Liquor manufactured by it to the Kerala State Beverages Corporation, a wholly owned Kerala Government Company - Tribunal deleted disallowance - Held that:- Division Bench judgment of this Court reported in Commissioner of Income Tax v. Premier Breweries Ltd. [2005 (3) TMI 83 - KERALA High Court] wherein held that the Tribunal should allow the claim only on being satisfied about the genuineness of the claim and the purpose for which commission was paid. The contention of the Revenue is that liquor distribution in the State is the monopoly of the sole marketing agency, which is the KSBC, a wholly owned Kerala Government company. Accordingly, there is no scope for paying any commission for the sale of liquor to a Government company. We find force in this contention because, collection of commission or incentive if any by a Government company or its employees would amount to a corrupt practice. There is prohibition against advertisements of liquor for sales promotion. Therefore, it is essentially a matter of selection of manufacturers and brands which should not involve any payment of commission because the sole purchaser in Kerala happens to be a Government company. The Tribunal allowed the appeals following the orders of earlier years, which, though was challenged in this Court was not considered on merits for the reason that the department did not press the appeals. We do not think the claim can be allowed on a regular basis merely because it was allowed in one year or for several years. If a mistake has happened, it can always be corrected in a subsequent assessment. Therefore, we feel matters require critical examination by the assessing officer. The assessee should be given full opportunity to give the entire details of the expenditure claimed under commission payments or if marketing expenses incurred are claimed as commission, the details thereof. We, therefore, allow the appeals by setting aside the orders of the Tribunal and that of the 1st appellate authority and remand the matter to the assessing officer to decide the matter afresh after giving opportunity to the assessee - Decided in favour of revenue for statistical purposes.
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