2020 (7) TMI 176 - ITAT PUNE - Income Tax

Head Note / Extract:
Penalty u/s. 271(1)(c) - deduction on expenditures - HELD THAT:- All the facts were disclosed and the claim was made for deduction on expenditures incurred by the assessee. As per record the assessee has made a bona-fide claim. AO as well as CIT(A) have not challenged the genuineness / bona-fides of the expenditures so incurred. The claim of the assessee is also supported by various decisions and documentary evidences placed on the record. Thus, penalty cannot be levied where a bona-fide claim of the assessee was rejected by the tax department. We observe that the instant case of the assessee is akin to the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Price Waterhouse Coopers (P) Ltd vs. CIT [2012 (9) TMI 775 - SUPREME COURT]. In that case, the crux of the issue for consideration was whether there was a bona fide and inadvertent error on the part of the assessee, warranting no imposition of penalty u/s 271(1)(C). We are of the opinion that it is not a fit case for levy of penalty u/s.271(1)(C) of the Act. Hence, we set aside the order of the Ld. CIT(Appeal) and direct the Assessing Officer to delete the penalty from the hands of the assessee. Appeal of the assessee is allowed.