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2016 (8) TMI 647 - AT - Income TaxEligibility of deduction u/s. 80 IB (10) - date of approval - Competence of issuing authority to issue commencement certificate - Held that:- The housing project in question was approved on 21/09/04 when the plan was approved by the Thane Municipal Corporation. The correspondence between the assessee and the Thane Municipal Corporation prior to the approval of the building is not relevant to decide the date of approval as per the explanation to section 80 IB (10). All the permissions with regard to construction of housing projects are given by the Commissioner of the Corporation, that there is delegation of powers by him to his officers, that delegated powers were used by his junior officers. In our opinion, what is material is the approval of the municipal authorities and not the person signing the permission letter/CC. We do not find any precondition in the Act or the Income Tax Rules, 1962 that prescribes that for availing deduction u/s. 80 IB (10) a certificate has to be signed by a particular officer only. The purpose to introduce the section was to encourage the construction of affordable houses for common man. The AO has tried to raise super/hyper technical objections to deny the deduction to the assessee. The stand taken by him is against the spirit and intent of the provision. We also agree that the issue is not arising out of the order of the FAA. However, we have decided the issue on merits. As stated earlier, effective first ground (GOA 1-7 &11-17)stands decided against the AO. Allowability of expenditure incurred prior to receipt of commencement certificate - Held that:- Tribunal has decided the issue in favour of the assessee and in the subsequent AY. s. the AO himself has not disallowed the deduction in that regard. In our opinion, expenditure incurred by an assessee for developing the housing project was an integral part of the project and hence allowable.
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