2018 (7) TMI 2193 - AT - Income Tax

Exemption u/s 11 - charitable activity u/s 2(15) - HELD THAT - We find that the assessee society is registered under Section 12A of the Act which the Ao has himself noted in his order however he has held that the society was hit by the proviso to Section 2(15) of the Act and therefore he denied the exemption u/s 11 - CIT(A) after going through the submission of the assessee allowed the appeals of the assessee. We further find that the Tribunal in the case of assessee itself in for assessment year 2011- 12 has already dismissed the appeal filed by the Revenue by following the orders in the case of assessee itself for assessment years 2009-10 and 2013-14.- Decided against revenue.

Summary

Issues involved:
- Disallowance of exemption under Section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961
- Interpretation of proviso to Section 2(15) of the Act
- Applicability of exemption under Section 11 of the Act
- Judicial precedent and decisions of higher courts

Detailed Analysis:
The Appellate Tribunal, ITAT Delhi, considered two appeals filed by the Revenue against separate orders of the learned CIT(A) dated 04.03.2016. The appeals were heard together due to common grounds, leading to a consolidated order. The main issue revolved around the disallowance of exemption under Section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Authorized Representative highlighted that the assessee was eligible for exemption under Section 11, citing previous Tribunal and High Court decisions in favor of the assessee. On the contrary, the Departmental Representative argued that the receipts of the assessee were substantial, exceeding the limit for exemption under the proviso to Section 2(15) of the Act. The Tribunal noted that the assessee society was registered under Section 12A of the Act, and after reviewing the submissions, the learned CIT(A) allowed the appeals of the assessee.

Further, the Tribunal referenced its previous order for assessment year 2011-12, where the appeal filed by the Revenue had been dismissed based on earlier decisions for assessment years 2009-10 and 2013-14. The Tribunal reiterated that the Hon’ble High Court had upheld its decision, dismissing the appeal of the Revenue. The Tribunal emphasized that no distinguishing decision favoring the Revenue was presented, leading to the dismissal of the Revenue's appeal. The Tribunal found the facts of the present cases similar to those in the previous case decided by the Hon’ble High Court, thus dismissing both appeals filed by the Revenue. Ultimately, on 18th July 2018, the Tribunal pronounced the decision to dismiss both appeals of the Revenue.