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2017 (7) TMI 213 - HC - Income TaxReopening of assessment - unaccounted investment in the purchase of the property - reference to the DVO - Payment of higher stamp duty - Held that:- Firstly, there is no presumption in law that whenever the Stamp Duty authority collects duty higher than what would be payable on the declared sale consideration, it would automatically mean that the purchaser had paid a sum in excess of the reflected sale consideration. The statutory presumption flowing from section 50C of the Act is in relation to the capital gain to be assessed in the hands of the seller. This presumption is also rebuttable if the assessee disputes the stamp duty valuation. There cannot be an automatic presumption that a purchaser of the property had paid consideration higher than the sale consideration reflected in the sale deed, the moment the stamp valuation authority of the State Government demanded and the parties paid higher stamp duty. This may be one of the factors which may prompt the Assessing Officer to probe further. This leads us to the second reason viz. this information that the assessee had purchased an immovable property for a declared sale consideration of ₹ 60 lakhs and that at the time of registration of the sale deed, he was asked to pay additional stamp duty of ₹ 1,34,256/was very much before the Assessing Officer even during the original assessment as can be seen from the reasons recorded for reopening the assessment. The same information which was noticed by the Assessing Officer, but which did not prompt him to make any addition or make any other attempt to make addition except for calling of DVO's report, by itself cannot be the ground for reopening of the assessment. - Decided in favour of assessee.
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