2025 (4) TMI 900 - AT - Income Tax

Addition of Expenditure by way of penalty or fine for violation of any law for the time being in force u/s. 37 - HELD THAT - Admittedly it is a fact on record that assessee had already added back this amount while computing its total income. Accordingly yet another disallowance made while processing the return is not justified as it amounts to double addition. We thus do not find any infirmity in the findings arrived at by the CIT(A) in this respect. Liability of contingent nature - Assessee has evidently demonstrated that this amount has been reported in its financial statements as part of its disclosure requirements and does not have any bearing on the profit and loss account to arrive at total income for the year and reported in its return. CIT(A) has taken note of the inadvertent error made by the tax auditor while reporting it in column 21(g) of the tax audit report. Based on his examination of the records he has noted that assessee did not claim the contingent liability as an expense neither in the profit and loss account nor in the return of income as a deduction while computing its total income. This is a verifiable fact from the records which were already available with the Department when the assessee filed its return of income on its portal. No infirmity in the fact based findings arrived at by CIT(A) in granting relief to the assessee. Accordingly grounds raised by the Revenue are dismissed.

Summary

1. ISSUES PRESENTED and CONSIDERED

The core legal questions considered by the Appellate Tribunal were:

(a) Whether the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] was justified in admitting additional evidence submitted by the assessee during appellate proceedings in contravention of the provisions of Rule 46A(2) of the Income Tax Rules, 1962?

(b) Whether the learned CIT(A) was justified in deciding the appeal based on the additional evidence without providing an opportunity to the Assessing Officer (AO) as required under Rule 46A(3) of the Income Tax Rules, 1962?

(c) Whether the additions made by the AO-specifically, (i) disallowance of Rs. 1,000 as expenditure by way of penalty or fine under section 37 of the Income-tax Act, and (ii) addition of Rs. 4,10,88,888 as contingent liability-were justified in law and on facts?

2. ISSUE-WISE DETAILED ANALYSIS

Issue (a) and (b): Admission and Consideration of Additional Evidence under Rule 46A

Relevant legal framework and precedents: Rule 46A(2) of the Income Tax Rules, 1962 governs the procedure for admission of additional evidence during appellate proceedings before the CIT(A). It restricts admission of evidence not previously furnished to the AO unless certain conditions are met. Rule 46A(3) mandates that if additional evidence is admitted, the AO must be given an opportunity to comment on it before the CIT(A) decides the appeal.

Court's interpretation and reasoning: The Tribunal noted the Revenue's contention that the CIT(A) erred in admitting additional evidence and deciding the appeal without giving the AO an opportunity to respond, thus allegedly violating Rule 46A. The assessee's counsel countered that the documents relied upon by the CIT(A)-including audited financial statements and tax audit report-were already uploaded and available on the Department's portal at the time of filing the return and hence did not constitute "additional evidence" under Rule 46A.

Key evidence and findings: The Tribunal examined the material on record and found that the documents were part of the return filing process and were accessible to the Department prior to appellate proceedings.

Application of law to facts: Since the evidence was already available to the AO at the time of assessment, it could not be classified as additional evidence for the purposes of Rule 46A. Consequently, the procedural safeguards under Rule 46A(3) regarding opportunity to AO were not triggered.

Treatment of competing arguments: The Tribunal rejected the Revenue's argument that the CIT(A) violated Rule 46A, accepting the assessee's submission that the evidence was not newly furnished during appeal but was part of the original return and audit records.

Conclusions: The CIT(A) was justified in admitting and considering the documents without violating Rule 46A, and no procedural infirmity arose from the manner of evidence admission or decision-making.

Issue (c)(i): Addition of Rs. 1,000 as expenditure by way of penalty or fine under section 37

Relevant legal framework and precedents: Section 37(1) of the Income-tax Act disallows expenditure by way of penalty or fine for violation of any law. However, if such an amount is already disallowed by the assessee in the computation of income, a further addition would amount to double disallowance.

Court's interpretation and reasoning: The Tribunal noted that the assessee had itself disallowed the Rs. 1,000 penalty amount in Part-A: OI other information of the return under "any other fine or penalty." Despite this, the AO made an addition of the same amount during processing under section 37.

Key evidence and findings: The return of income and the intimation order clearly showed that the disallowance was already factored in by the assessee. The CIT(A) had examined these records and held that duplicative addition was unjustified.

Application of law to facts: The Tribunal agreed that since the assessee had already accounted for the disallowance, the AO's addition was erroneous and amounted to double counting.

Treatment of competing arguments: The Revenue did not dispute the factual position but sought to sustain the addition on procedural grounds related to evidence admission, which was rejected as discussed above.

Conclusions: The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s finding that the addition of Rs. 1,000 was unjustified and allowed the appeal on this ground.

Issue (c)(ii): Addition of Rs. 4,10,88,888 as contingent liability

Relevant legal framework and precedents: Contingent liabilities disclosed in the notes to accounts as per accounting standards, but neither debited to the profit and loss account nor claimed as deduction in the return, do not form part of income computation and cannot be disallowed under the Act.

Court's interpretation and reasoning: The Tribunal noted that the amount in question was disclosed in Schedule 12 of the audited financial statements as a contingent liability, in compliance with disclosure requirements. The assessee did not debit this amount to the profit and loss account, nor did it claim any deduction for it in the return.

Key evidence and findings: The Tribunal relied on the audited financial statements, return of income, and the tax audit report. It was found that the tax auditor erroneously reported the amount in clause 21(g) of the tax audit report, but this was an inadvertent error and did not affect the computation of income.

Application of law to facts: Since the contingent liability was only disclosed and not claimed as an expense or deduction, the addition by the AO was unwarranted. The CIT(A) rightly accepted the assessee's explanation and allowed the appeal.

Treatment of competing arguments: The Revenue argued that the addition was justified, but the Tribunal found no merit given the verifiable facts on record and the nature of the contingent liability.

Conclusions: The Tribunal concurred with the CIT(A) that the addition of Rs. 4,10,88,888 was unjustified and dismissed the Revenue's appeal on this ground.

3. SIGNIFICANT HOLDINGS

The Tribunal made the following crucial legal determinations:

"Upon thorough consideration, the response provided by the assessee has been deemed acceptable. Examination of the assessee's reply, intimation order, and Income Tax Return revealed that the assessee had already accounted for a disallowance of INR 1,000 under column 7(f) on page 22 of the ITR as 'Any other penalty or fine.' Given that the assessee had already factored in this disallowance while filing the Income Tax Return, it would be unjust to duplicate the adjustment and impose an undue burden on the assessee. Consequently, the appeal of the assessee on this ground is upheld."

"Examination of the assessee's reply, intimation order, profit and loss account, and Income Tax Return revealed that the appellant did not claim the contingent liability as an expense, neither in the profit and loss account nor in the return of income nor as deduction in the computation of income. The disallowance of the contingent liability is due to an inadvertent error in reporting by the auditor in column 21(g) of the tax audit report. As the appellant did not debit this contingent liability in its profit and loss account or return of income, the adjustment of INR 4,10,88,888/- would be unjust and impose an undue burden on the assessee. Consequently, the appeal of the assessee on this ground is upheld."

Core principles established include:

- Evidence uploaded along with the return and available on the Department's portal does not constitute "additional evidence" under Rule 46A, and hence procedural safeguards under Rule 46A(3) are not triggered.

- Double disallowance of the same penalty amount is impermissible under section 37.

- Mere disclosure of contingent liabilities in notes to accounts, without debiting profit and loss account or claiming deduction, does not justify addition under the Income-tax Act.

Final determinations:

- The CIT(A) was justified in admitting and considering the evidence without violating Rule 46A.

- The additions of Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 4,10,88,888 were not sustainable.

- The appeal filed by the Revenue was dismissed in entirety.