TMI Blog2021 (11) TMI 319X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e finding of Ld. CIT(A) appreciating the fact of the case, details of name and address of 27746 donors from A.Y. 2013-14 38625 donors for A.Y. 2015-16 alleged to have given donation of ₹ 14,06,75,754/- for A.Y. 2013-14 and ₹ 17,23,85,000/- for A.Y. 2015-16 and also rightly holding that the assessee has provided the details of donation of ₹ 4,35,00,000/- received from other persons giving their name address and Permanent Account No.. Therefore, the alleged sum undisputed before us by the revenue for A.Y. 2013-14 2015-16 cannot be held to be anonymous donation . Difference in interest income as per the form 26AS and offered to tax - HELD THAT:- Under the given circumstances wherein there are different claim by both the sides on the same issue i.e. 26AS form available on the wave site of the Income Tax Department then in such situation Ld. CIT(A) has rightly restored the matter to the Ld. Assessing Officer to carry out necessary reconciliation with the help of the documents to be placed by the assessee society before Ld. AO and the documents relied on by the ld. Assessing Officer to make the impugned addition. Thus, no interference is called for in the find ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e case, the Ld. CITCA) was justified in allowing relief to the assessee regarding the addition of ₹ 60,03,055/- on account of suppression of interest receipts by the assessee, arrived at by the Assessing Officer as difference between interest receipts as per 26AS statement of ₹ 1,34,99,0181- and that offered by the assessee of ₹ 74,95,9631-, considering also the fact that the assessee is following mercantile system of accounting? 5. The revenue reserves the right to add, urge or alter all or any other ground/grounds on or before the date of hearing. The Revenue has raised following grounds of appeal in ITANo.776/Ind/2018: 1. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the ld. CIT(A) was justified in deleting addition of ₹ 20,50,90,750/- made on account of anonymous donations under section 115BBC of the Act without considering the various discrepancies like incomplete address- . wrong/Invalid P AN in the list of donors and the receipts as pointed out by the Assessing Officer in the assessment order? 2.Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) was justified in arriving at the conclusion in respec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... IT(A). 4. As agreed by both the parties for the purpose of adjudicating the common issue relating to addition for Anonymous donation u/s 115BBC(3) of the Act we will take the basis of the fact for A.Y. 2013-14 and our decision for A.Y. 2013-14 shall apply mutatis mutandis on this common issue raised by the Revenue for A.Y. 2015- 16. 5. Brief facts as culled out from the records are that the assessee is a society established on 04.12.1996 with a main object for development of downtrodden/poor people of society and establishment of institutions, programmers for improving the literary level of various segments of the society in the field of medicine, social engineering etc. That for achieving the said objects the society has setup primary health centres in rural areas for providing free health care services to people of low income level cum research in rural area also are conducting graduate and post graduate courses in the field of medicine surgery and allied advanced courses. The society is registered u/s 12AA(1)(B)(1) vide order dated 01.12.2008. Approval u/s 80G(5) (vi) was issued to the assesse on 13.05.2009, that approval u/s.10(23c)(vi) was granted by the Honourable Chief ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 5,754/- given towards a corpus funds as Anonymous donation liable to be taxed under the provisions of section 115BBC(3) of the Act. 7. Ld. Assessing Officer also observed that the assessee has disclosed the interest income of ₹ 74,95,963/- whereas as per the income tax portal on form 26AS tax has been deducted on the interest income of ₹ 1,34,99,018/- based on this information. Ld. Assessing Officer made addition for suppression income at ₹ 60,03,055/-. Accordingly income assessed at ₹ 14,06,75,754/-. It is important to mention here that the Ld. Assessing Officer has not disputed the book results and the loss incurred by the assessee at ₹ 24,81,72,253/- shown in the audited financial statement and has also not disputed that the assessee society is carrying out charitable activity by way of giving medical relief to poor and also imparting education through Index Medical College and the assessee is regularly carrying out the activities for which it was granted registration u/s 12AA(1)(B)(i) 10(23C)(vi) of the Act. 8. Aggrieved assessee preferred an appeal before the ld. CIT(A) challenging the issue on addition of anonymous donation suppression in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t books etc. for verification before the undersigned. The assessee has failed to produce the donors for examination during the assessment proceedings. 0 law of the land requires that assessee should be called for before conducting any enquiry and made part of recording any statement. The statements were recorded on oath absolutely in a fair manner and the persons have also acknowledged the same in the statements itself. In fact, one person herself submitted letter in Dak stating that no donation was given by her. They have categorically denied having given any donation to the assessee in response to specific queries regarding the issue of donation to the assessee. These statements recorded has been duly confronted to the assessee vide letter dated 19.12.2017 and copy of all the statements have been provided to the assessee on the same date through email. Thus, the argument of the assessee that opportunity of cross enquiry was not provided to the assessee is not tenable, In fact the assessee has nothing to say in the matter and hence some weird logic has been taken that the statements have been recorded behind assessee. 4.35 It is further pertinent to mention that several Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rs as may be prescribed.] 12. On a plain reading of section 115BBC, the salient features of section noticed are as under (1) Total income of an assessee, being a person in receipt of income on behalf of:- (i) any university or other educational institution existing solely for educational PUlPO' and not for purposes of profit if the aggregate annual receipts of such university or educational institution do not exceed the amount of annual receipts as may be prescribed; or (ii) any hospital or other institution for the reception and treatment of persons suffering from illness or mental defectiveness or for the reception and treatment of persons during convalescence or of persons requiring medical attention or rehabilitation, existing solely for philanthropic purpose and not for purposes of profit, if the aggregate annual receipts of such hospital or institution do not exceed the amount of annual receipts as may be prescribed; or (iii) any other fund or institution established for charitable purposes [which may be approved by the prescribed authority], having regard to the objects of the fund or institution and its importance throughout India or throughout any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... record of the identity indicating the name and address of person making such contribution and such other particulars as may be prescribed. (6) This provision of anonymous donation shall not apply to following :- (i) any trust or institution created or established wholly for religious purpose; (ii) any trust or institution created or established wholly for religious purpose and charitable purpose other than any anonymous donation made with a specific direction that such donation is for any university or other educational institution or any hospital or other medical institution run by such trust or institution. 13. In the light of the above background of discussions of relevant scheme of the Act and provisions of section 115BBC, if we consider the facts of the case under consideration, we notice that the assessee did not maintain records of the identity indicating the names and addresses of the donors. Merely filing list of donors containing names and addl'esses/incomplete addresses does not satisfy the conditions laid down in section 115BBC(3) of lite Act.TIlt: sub-section (3) of section 115BBC has explained the meaning of anonymous donation clearly that suc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... out the genuineness of the such records, name of donors, donations etc. (Emphasis Supplied) 4.37 The Hon'ble income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai Bench in its recent judgment in case of Madhavi Raksha Sankalp Nirmal Niketan v. Deputy Director of Income Tax (Exemption) reported in [2017] 83 taxmann.com 316 (Mumbai-Trib.) in almost identical facts has also categorically held that where assessee-trust received corpus donation, assessee was to furnish father's name, PAN and addresses of donors for verification by Assessing Officer before exemption under section l1(l)(d) was allowed. The ld. Tribunal has also directed the assessee to produce the donors for verification as selected by the Assessing Officer. In this case of Madhavi Raksha Sankalp Nirmal Niketan, even the intention letters of all the donors were provided, all the donations were received through banking channel not in cash but then also such directions were made by the Id. Tribunal in interest of justice. The relevant portions of the judgment are reproduced as under for ready reference:- 1/3. The brief facts of the case are that the assessee is a trust registered as a charitable organization with DI ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... purpose. A group of people who are devoted to the concept propagated by the trust join together and out of that someone contributes land another contributes seeds another contributes irrigation and another contributes labour and so on and cultivate the land jointly to produce wealth out of which part is utilised for charitable purpose at the village level and part of which is donated to trust by way of corpus donation. Therefore individual shares in the produce is an unidentified even amongst themselves and therefore, the certificate of the representative of that group is sufficient enough and acceptable to treat it as corpus donation. These activities are taken turn by turn from one village to another in subsequent year and this activity goes on. In these circumstances, the claim of the assessee that it is a corpus donation is in order and is acceptable and the A a is directed to treat as corpus donation. TNherever directions letters were not filed, they are available with the assessee which may be obtained and placed on record. The assessee has produced the sample copies of receipts issued to the donors in respect of corpus donations. The assessee also submitted direction ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the transaction remained unproved, and hence the furnished for verification by the AD. Considering the factual matrix of the case, keeping in oietu the provisions of Section 115BBC of 1961 Act and in the interest of justice and fair play, we are of considered view that this matter needs to be set aside and restored to the file of the A.D for necessary enquiry and verification of the said donations so received by the assessee as to genuineness and also for verifying compliance of the relevant section 115BBC of 1961 Act. The onus as well burden of proof is entirely on the assessee to provide to the AD all relevant details as contemplated under section 115BBC of 1961 Act to the satisfaction of the Ld. AO as to compliance of Section 115BBC of 1961 Act and as to genuineness of the said donation. The assessee is directed to furnish PAN, addresses and all other relevant details of all the said donors before the AD to satisfy mandate of Section 115BBC of 1961_Act. The assessee is directed to produce before the AD donors, 25% in numbers for donation up-to ₹ 20,000/- and 10% in number for donations above ₹ 20,000/- to satisfy the AD about compliance of mandate of Section 115BBC o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 4.42 In view of all the above facts and circumstances of the case, discussion made above in detail, evidences gathered and judicial pronouncements discussed in. preceding paragraphs, it is found that the assessee has failed to maintain the records of identity of claimed donors in case of all donations received during the year amounting to ₹ 21,58,85,000/- (Corpus donation of ₹ 17,23,85,000/- and normal donation of ₹ 4,35,00,0001 -) as prescribed in section 115BBC(3) of the Act. Thus, this amount of ₹ 21,58,85,0001 - is hereby treated as anonymous donation within the meaning of provisions of section 115BBC of the Act. However, the assessee is provided benefit of five percept of total donations amounting to ₹ 1,07,94,250/- as given in section 115BBC(1)(i) of the Act. Accordingly, the balance anonymous donations amounting to ₹ 20,50,90,750/- are charged to tax at the rate of thirty per cent as per provisions of section 115BBC of the Act. I am also satisfied that the assessee has committed default within the meaning of the provisions of section 271(1)(c) of the I.T. Act by furnishing inaccurate particulars of its income and hence penalty proceed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Tax (Appeal), the department has filed an appeal before the Honorable Bench, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Indore Bench, Indore. This is departmental appeal before the honorable bench. That during the course of assessment proceedings the appellant cooperated fully and furnished all the details asked for and the learned Assessing Officer accepted the nature of activities having carried on by the society. That, the said fact is evident from the assessment order itself because no adverse comment regarding the bona fides of the charitable work being carried on has been made. That, the appellant which had a corpus fund of ₹ 82,07,94,149/- received donations at ₹ 140675754/- and therefore learned Assessing Officer directed to furnish the complete list of the donors along with their address and the appellant was directed to produce details. That, the assessee submitted the details on 03.03.2016 and as per the assessment order itself the list comprised of 27746 persons. The said list contained the serial number, date, name, father s name, age of the donor, sex, location and the amount. List of donors is attached at page no. 206 to 382 of the paper book. That, as pe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es. In the present case a complete list was available in the hard disc of the computer. This point has nowhere been mentioned by the Assessing Officer. The assessee took time only for taking hard copies numbering more than 27000 persons. The Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) rightly deleted the addition so made by the Assessing Officer. That, from a perusal of the certificates as enclosed at page no. 382A to 382E of the paper book it shall be seen that these were issued by the Sarpanch of the village, wherein it is stated that because of the hospital in their area lot of problems have been solved and there is an improvement and development in the area and therefore the residents have donated amounts towards the completion of the hospital. That it is well settled that though the larger cities or towns do have a reasonable good postal service and that the houses etc. are properly numbered along with the colonies etc. the small villages having population from 500 to say 1500 don t have that luxury. Leave alone the pin code or any other data the majority of small villages don t have post offices either and hence to give a specific number of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e. That, the AO s observation that the letters/certificates were typed and the name etc were written by pen later is of no significance. Firstly because the complete list giving names and address had been filed before the AO, and secondly the certificates were furnished on the direction of the AO himself. That, there is no discrepancy when the donors have certified by either signing or by putting their thumb impression. That, as stated above the cost of treatment is very high vis a vis the amount of donation received and therefore the assumption of donations being benami are ill conceived. That, a very important aspect ignored by the learned AO were the certificates of the Gram Sarpanch stating the reason for making the donation is mentioned. R. J. Trivedi (HUF) Vs. Commissioner of Income-tax, M.P. 144 ITR 877 Account Books Rejection of Best judgment assessment, whether justified Assessee carrying on coal mining business and working collieries Account books rejected by Tribunal for want of quantitative tally, and evidence as to what was paid to subcontractor Accounts properly maintained in accordance with mineral concessions rules, 1960, and checked by Gov ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ence, such donations cannot be classified as anonymous donations as per the provisions of s.115BBC(3)-Only requirement under s. 115BBC (3) is that the names and addresses of the donors are to be recorded-CIT(A) has wrongly applied the provisions of s.68 in the case of the assessee by stating that the recipient society should also be in a position to identity the donors and establish the capacity to give a donation of the amount mentioned against their names Conclusion: Assessee having furnished the names and addresses of donors to the Investigation Wing of the Department which were also recorded in the books produced by the assessee before the AO, donations cannot be classified as anonymous donations as per the provisions of s. 115BBC. Copy of the case law is enclosed at page no. A17 to A27 of the paper book. 3.Income Tax Officer V/s. Gaudiya Granth Anuved Trust (2014) 23 ITJ 141 (Trib-Agra) Income-u/s. 2(24) of the Income Tax Act, 1961-Corpus Donation- Whether same is taxable-HELD-Same is not taxable as same is a capital receipt Considering the above facts and submission your honor will find that the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal) rightly dele ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... In case of an educational institution exempt i/s 10(22) [now 10(23C)], the Assessing Officer noticed some credits, which he sought to treat as deemed income u/s 68 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and brought to tax, but denied exemption for such amount. It was argued on behalf of the assessee that the income which is exempt has to be understood in a wide sense. The High Court in Director of Income Tax (Exemption) v. (Del) found that the income cannot be given a restricted meaning following the decision of the Supreme Court in different context in P.R. Prabhakar v. CIT [2006] 284 ITR 548 (SC). It also referred to a decision of the Supreme Court in Adityapur Industrial Area Development authority v. Union of India [2006] 5 Scale 321 (SC), where it was held that an exemption granted cannot be taken away, unless it is expressly provided for. In such cases where the Assessing Officer infers income for a charitable institution other than what is admitted in the books, whether by anonymous donations or by way of loan, the source of which cannot be proved, such income will also be exempt subject only to the conditions for application of such income as well, so that there could be no liability ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... made by AO holding that mere submission of names and addresses of alleged donors was not enough to satisfy requirement of Section 115BBC and that principles applied in case of unexplained cash credits shall also apply in case of anonymous donations u/s. 115BBC Held, names of donors along with their addresses were furnished before Investigation Wing of department and were also recorded in books produced by assessee before AO Hence such donations cannot be classified as anonymous donations as per s. 115BBC(3)-Only requirement u/s. 115BBC(3) was that names and addresses of the donors was to be recorded CIT(A) has wrongly applied provisions of section 68 in the case of the assessee by stating that the recipient society should also be in a position to identity donors and establish the capacity to give a donation of the amount mentioned against their names Addition made u/s 115BBC was deleted Assessee s appeal allowed. 3..Commissioner of Income-tax Vs. Dawoodi Bohra Jamat (2014) 364 ITR 31(SC) Charitable purpose Exemption Exclusion from exemption where trust create for benefit of particular community or caste General principles Objects of assessee-trust b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The question, whether a particular contribution has been towards corpus or otherwise would depend upon the facts of the case. Where the contribution is made for a specific purpose and not for general purpose, it can be understood that the donation is towards corpus. [ CIT v Shri Plot Swetamber Murti Pujak Jain Mandal (1995) 211 ITR 293 (Guj.)]. Where the amount was given with specific direction for construction of Wadi, it shall be treated as having been for corpus. [CIT v Sthanakvasi Vardhman Vanik Jain Sangh (2003) 260 ITR 366 (Guj.)]. Treatment of corpus donations: Corpus donations cannot be treated as income in view of the exception under section 12, so that such corpus donations need not be applied for the objects as required for other donations. It is sufficient, if the income therefrom is applied. It is not unusual for trust to receive such donations for specified purposes not available for application at the discretion of the trustees according to the objects of the trust, so that the main trust need not lose its right to exemption either for non-application or even for the reason that the specific object of such tied-up donation does not fall within the ambit of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e addition made by the learned Assessing Officer under section 115BBC is not based on the facts of the case and was rightly deleted by the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals). 12. It is also submitted that the provisions of section 115BBC of the Act are not applicable to the assessee society because case of the assessee does not fall in subsection (3) of u/s 115BBC of the Act as the assessee has maintained complete record of the identity of the donors including their name gender, age, husband/father name and address of the persons. Reliance was placed on the following decisions:- S.No. Particulars Page Nos. 1. Shanti Niketan Trust ,M/s P.k Singhal Co. v Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Ghaziabad (ITAT-Delhi) 01-08 2. Income Tax Officer (Exemption) v Prasanti Educational and Welfare Society (ITAT-Indore) 09-18 3. Director of Income Tax (Exemption) v Keshav Social Charitable Foundation (2005) 146 Taxman 569 (Delhi) 19-20 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 04.10.2011 and the name of the assessee appears at Colum no. 17 of this notification. Activities of the assessee society includes running of medical college, running a hospital approx. 30 km from Indore in rural area where the villagers and people at large are provided free medical facilities and free medicines. The Activities of the assesse society being carried out for charitable purpose u/s 2(15) and Educational purpose u/s 10(23C)(vi) of the Act have not been disputed by the Ld. Assessing Officer at any stage. The bone of contention only relates to the donation received towards corpus funds at ₹ 14,06,75,754/- received during the A.Y. 2013-14 and similar type of addition made by the ld. Assessing Officer for A.Y. 2015-16 at ₹ 20,50,90,750/-. Though the assessee provided the complete list of 27746 persons for A.Y. 2013-14 who have given cash donation of ₹ 14,06,75,754/- and list of 38625 contributors to donation of ₹ 17,23,85,000/- and list with PAN provided for donation of ₹ 4, 35,00,000/- containing details of the name and address of the person, age, gender and father/husband names, the ld. Assessing Officer, however, was not satisfied with th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mall villages. 3.3 The appellant had filed the details regarding the activities before the Assessing officer along with the newspaper clippings wherein the efforts of the charitable activities were lauded. It has been claimed by the appellant that the Assessing Officer accepted the nature of work being done by the aforesaid trust which was evident from the assessment order itself regarding the bonafides of the work being carried on had been made anywhere in the body of the order u] s 143(3) / 115BBC. 3.6 During the course of assessment proceeding, the AO directed the appellant to furnish the names and address of the donors totalling 27746 persons on 09.03.2016. 3.7 The appellant has stated that the list containing the serial number, date, name along with the name of the father or spouse, age, sex, place and amount was duly submitted to the AO and the same was also produced during the appeal proceedings. The appellant claimed that from a perusal of the certificates as enclosed with the assessment order it can be seen that the donors have mentioned the name of the villages. This claim of the appellant has been found to be correct on examination of the assessment order. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd in order. 3.15 Further the appellant has argued that another issue that was important is that the learned Assessing Officer had asked for furnishing the receipts only on the date of last hearing. The appellant has claimed that the AR of the appellant carried other information personally on 26th March but the same was not accepted. The 24th and 25th March were holidays on account of Holi and Good Friday respectively. Thus, it has been claimed by the appellant that being left with no choice, a detailed submission was sent by speed post on 26th March, but the same was not considered by the learned Assessing Officer, and the order was passed on 28.03.2016 and was received by the appellant on 31.03.2016. 3.16 The AR of the appellant has further stated that the order u/s 115BBC was passed without proper appreciation of the facts. The Ld. Assessing Officer made the addition for the reason that the letter were typed and later the names etc. were mentioned. The appellant has mentioned that the addition has been made by the AO out understanding that the donations were being received towards construction of new buildings and therefore there were computerized letter for the sake o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Income-tax, wherein it has been held (i) that the accounts were. properly maintained by the assessee and were checked governmental authorities and there was no chance of manipulation of accounts 3.23 The appellant has argued that the AO's observation that the letters certificates were typed and the names etc. were written by pen later is of no significance. Firstly, because the complete list giving names and address had been filed before the AO, and secondly the certificates were furnished on the direction of the AO himself. The appellant further stated that the cost of treatment was very high vis a vis the amount of donation received and therefore the assumption of donations being payment of free treatment is ill conceived. 3.24 It was also submitted by the appellant that the Assessing Officer further erred in stating that because the letters were typed and later the names etc. were mentioned, without understanding that the donation were being received towards construction of new buildings and therefore there were computerized letter for the sake of convenience on which the donations were received. 3.25 The appellant relied on the following case laws :_ 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 283HydTrib Non Resident - Anonymous donations to be taxed in certain case - search and seizure was conducted at residence of 'D' on 12.2.2009, wherein certain documents belonging to assessee-society were seized-Pursuant to notices issued u/ s. 153C, assessee filed its returns of income for A. Ys. 2007-08 and 2008-09 admitting nil income and for A. Y. 2009-10 assessee had admitted loss- Assessment order u/ s. 143(3) r.w.s. 153C was passed adding certain amount being anonymous donations u/s. 115BBC-It was submitted that assessee society was formed on 30.01.2006, during A. Y. 2007-08 and thereafter the assessee started construction of a college for which Society was in receipt of unsecured loans, loan on FDR and also corpus donations - it was claimed that society had filed the names and addresses of the donors, the corpus donation shall not be added u/ s 115BBC - AO rejected assessee's claim holding that neither it had commenced its activity of imparting education nor any reason was offered by society regarding alleged donation received form various persons - AO, accordingly treated entire corpus donation as anonymous donations u/ s 115BBCCIT( A) had affirmed additio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ciety Vs. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax ITAT Hyderabad Tribunal (B) (2015) 167 TTJ 0774(Hyd) that section 115BBC only mandates the names and addresses of the donors which has been duly met by the appellant. 3.27 Further, as mentioned above it was held in the case of Vaishnavi Education Society vs. Deputy Commissioner of Income tax ITAT Hyderabad Tribunal (B) (2014) 41 CCH 0283 Hyd Trib that names of donors along with their addresses were furnished before Investigation Wing of department and were also recorded in book produced by assessee before AO -Hence such donations cannot l:l. classified as anonymous donations as per section 115BBC(3)- only requirement u/s 115BBC(3) was that names and addresses of the donors was to be recorded. It was held in para 13 of the order as below: Hence, we are of the opinion that the only requirement u/ s. 115BBC(3) is that the names and addresses of the donors are to be recorded. The learned CIT(A) has wrongly applied the provisions of section 68 in the case of the assessee by stating that the recipient society should also be in a position to identity the donors and establish the capacity to give a donation of the amount mention ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... account and 26AS. The appellant's submissions in this regard are reproduced as below That in respect of mismatch in interest income as per 26AS statement and in the books of accounts, it is submitted that the as per 26AS statement downloaded by the assessee from the income tax department site as on 19.09.2013, the interest income comes to ₹ 7601462/- and accordingly the society claimed tds deducted thereon in the return of income. Copy of 26AS statement downloaded on 19.09.2013 is enclosed with paper book. From perusal of which your honor will find that the society rightly accounted for interest income and tds on the basis of 26AS dated 19.09.2013 available. Further it is submitted that the assessee has made FDR with various bank and the same are auto renewed by the bank and the interest on FDR is accounted for on the basis of the information available in the 26AS statement and the amount of interest of ₹ 7601462/ - was rightly accounted by the society. 4.1 Based on the submission of the appellant the AO is directed to reconcile the amount of interest to be taxed and accordingly relief may be allowed to the assessee on the basis of 26AS statement. This ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... submitted the confirmation letter and few receipts on sample basis. Further, the appellant has argued that this fact was also mentioned in the AO s order. 3.5 The appellant had also sent the said list of the donors through had found the said details incomplete therefore he has issued summons to six donors out of the list provided and the summons were returned unserved. 3.6 The reason given by the appellant for non-mentioning the details is that all these villages were small villages and the complete residential address were not necessarily available. Further, the appellant has submitted that even if the address were found, 0 summons might not have been accepted by semi illiterate villager because they did not understand the summon proceedings of the department. In their opinion, a summons for a villager would be thought of as if it were a court summons. The appellant has further stated that the AO had failed to appreciate this very important aspect. It has been also argued that the villagers with the guidance of the Sarpanch and after discussing amongst themselves voluntarily decided to donate almost similar amounts for the facility. The appellant had furnished the c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l-Even if he had some reservations about the correctness of the decision of the Tribunal he had to follow the order. 3.12In support of his contention, the appellant has relied on the latest decision of Hon'ble Bench of ITAT Indore in the case of ITO Exemption vs Prasanti Educational and Welfare Society ITJ 494. The relevant extract of the said order is reproduced hereunder:- Anonymous Donation- u/ s 115BBC of the Income Tax Act, 6- AO was found that some of the donors were not traceable and some of them denies having given such donation and therefore, proportionate corpus donation of ₹ 26.32 lacs has been tread as anonymous donation -CITA directed the AO to treat this donation as corpus donation-Held-AO did not properly interpret the provisions of section SBBC- section 115BBC[2} makes it clear that provisions of anonymous donations are not applicable to corpus donation-AO considered this as anonymous donation and even not allowed 5% of total donation is otherwise exempt u/ s 115BBC{l}{i} -of sampled amount of donation CII'[A] was fully justified in direction AO to treat this donation as corpus donation. 3.13 The appellant has also relied on the foll ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eate for benefit of particular community or caste -general principles-objects of assessee-trust based on religious tenets-activities of trust both charitable and religious -benefits not exclusively meant for particular religious community - trust not disqualified to claim exemption Income tax Act, 1961. 3.17 In the case of Income Tax Officer vs Gaudiya Granth Anuved Trust {2014} 23 ITJ 141, Hon'ble ITAT Agra had held that Income-u/ s 2{24} of the Income Tax Act, 1961-Corpus donation whether same is taxable-Held-Same is not taxable as same is a capital In light of this and other decision cited above it is clear that the onus on the appellant was only to submit the names and addresses of the donors and where such name and addresses have been submitted, the same cannot be held to be benami. In this particular case, the appellant had filed the complete list giving the name, date, name of the father/spouse, age sex, place and the amount, hence the donations received cannot be said to be received from anonymous sources. Further, the AO has not been able to prove or bring on record any particular or specific evidence that these were benami. Thus, I do not find merit in the addi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... certain cases. 115BBC. (1) Where the total income of an assessee, being a person in receipt of income on behalf of any university or other educational institution referred to in sub-clause (iiiad) or sub-clause (vi) or any hospital or other institution referred to in sub-clause (iiiae) or sub-clause (via) or any fund or institution referred to in sub-clause (iv) or any trust or institution referred to in sub-clause (v) of clause (23C) of section 10 or any trust or institution referred to in section 11, includes any income by way of any anonymous donation, the income-tax payable shall be the aggregate of- 36[(i) the amount of income-tax calculated at the rate of thirty per cent on the aggregate of anonymous donations received in excess of the higher of the following, namely:- (A) five per cent of the total donations received by the assessee; or (B) one lakh rupees, and (ii) the amount of income-tax with which the assessee would have been chargeable had his total income been reduced by the aggregate of anonymous donations received.] The following clause (ii) shall be substituted for the existing clause (ii) of sub-section (1) of section 115BBC by the Fi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as alleged that the assessee s case falls in sub-section (3) of section 115BBC of the Act. But for holding so Ld. Assessing Officer should have given a finding that the assessee has not maintained the record of name, address of the person giving such contribution. As far as the records placed before lower authorities and before us shows that the assessee has prepared complete list of the donors giving voluntary contribution for the year under appeal which includes providing the name, gender/father/husband name, address and the amounts received and the same are duly accounted for in books of accounts regularly maintained and audited. 20. Perusals of these details shows that donations have been received from thousands of persons residing in the villages. It is a well-known fact that if in the address name of village is mentioned it does not tantamount to show that the address is incomplete because in the small villages consisting of few 100 houses, the people are known by name. Normally the small villages they don t have the street no. or house no. Even some small villages do not have post office so there can be no Pin Code No. also. In such circumstances Ld. Assessing Officer oug ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nts and so on. The activities described by the assessee as having been undertaken by it during the assessment year in question could be included in the broad conspectus of Hindu religious activity when viewed in the context of the objects of the trust and its activities in general. Thus, the Tribunal was justified in coming to the conclusion that the assessee was entitled to the benefit of section 115BBC as far as the anonymous donations received by it were concerned. 22. Coordinate Bench Agra in the case of ITO vs. Gaudiya Granth Anuved Trust (2014) 23 ITJ 141 (Trib-Agra) also held in favour of the assessee on the instant issue observing as follows: In light of this and other decision cited above it is clear that the onus on the appellant was only to submit the names and addresses of the donors and where such name and addresses have been submitted, the same cannot be held to be benami. In this particular case, the appellant had filed the complete list giving the name, date, name of the father/spouse, age sex, place and the amount, hence the donations received cannot be said to be received from anonymous record any particular or specific evidence that these were benami. Thu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e donations for charitable purposes. It is not in dispute that the objects and activities of the assessee were charitable in nature, since it was duly registered under the provisions of section 12A of the Act.' Page | 5 ACIT Vs Shree Shiv Vankeshawar Educational Social Welfare Trust, ITA No. 4623/Del/2012 (Assessment Year: 2009-10) 8. Therefore on reading of the above decision of the honourable Delhi High Court it is clear that when an income is credited to the income and expenditure account by the assessee trust then provisions of section 68 does not apply. Honourable High Court recognized that the situation may be different in case of corpus donation. As in the present case the amount of donation as held by the learned CIT - A is normal income already offered by the trust, these fact has never been controverted by the learned departmental representative, respectfully following the decision of the Hon_ble Delhi High Court, we uphold the decision of the learned CIT - A that the addition u/s 68 of the above donation cannot be made. 9. The 2nd issue that arises even if the nation is credited to income and expenditure account of the assessee, whether a normal donation or a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... donors. Therefore with respect to the donation from 1038 persons the assessee has shown their name and address along with other particulars. It is not the case of the revenue that assessee has not maintained and provided these details to the assessing officer. In view of this we do not find that the donation received by the assessee falls into the definition of anonymous donation. Hence on the applicability of the provisions of section 115BBC of the income tax act we find that the learned CIT - A has correctly reached the conclusion that the donation received by the assessee is not an anonymous donation as provided under section 115BBC of the act. Therefore on this count also we uphold the order of the learned CIT - A. 24. Our view is also supported by the decision of Coordinate Bench Lucknow in the case of DCIT(E) vs. M/s Shri Ramswaroop Charitable Trust, in ITANo.557/LKW/2017 dated 08.03.2019. The relevant finding of the Tribunal is mentioned below: 20. Now in Ground No.3, we find that assessee in total had accepted donation of ₹ 16,18,36,650/-. During the assessment proceeding, the details including names and addresses of donation were filed before the Assessing Of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... %. Anonymous donation to wholly religious trusts or institutions will not be taxed. 6.1.4 Anonymous donation has been defined in the new section to mean any voluntary contribution referred to in section 2(24) (iia) of the Act, where a person receiving such contribution does not maintain a record of the identity indicating the name and address of the person making such contribution and such other particulars as may be prescribed. To be excluded from the definition of anonymous donations the person receiving the donation is required to maintain the record of identity indicating the name and address of contributor and such other particulars as may be prescribed. Since no other particulars have been prescribed under the provisions the person receiving the donation is under obligation to maintain the identity of donors indicating the name and address. On perusal of the details filed by appellant it is seen that the appellant has furnished the names and addresses of donors. In view of above it is held that appellant has established the identity of donors as provided u/s 115BBC of I.T. Act, 1963and the donations received by the appellant cannot be categorised as anonymous donations a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be prescribed. The assessee has submitted the complete particulars of the Donor giving their name and address and it can be held that the appellant has established the identity of the donors as required u/s 115 BBC of the Act and donation cannot be categorized as anonymous donation. Further, Section 68 has no application to the facts of the instant case because the assessee has disclosed the donation as its income and applied the same for charitable purpose. In my considered opinion addrng part of the donation as Cash Credit u/s 68 of I. T, Act to the total income of the appellant amounted to double addition which is not permissible. Reliance is placed on the following judgements :- 1 [2013] 33 Taxmann.com 642 Section 68, read with section 11, of the (Delhi) High Court of Delhi in Income-tax Act, 1961-Cash'credits [In the case of Director of Income case of charitable trust] - Assessment Tax Vs. Hans Raj Samarak year 2006-07 - Assessing Officer Society. disallowed deduction under section 11 on finding unaccounted money by way of anonymous donation on purchase of capital assets - Tribunal observed that donation received by assessee was not anonymous donation because rec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... puted that all receipts, other than corpus donations, would be income in the hands of the assessee. If ITA No. 557/Lkw/2017 there is Full disclosure of the donation for whatever purpose and that the registration under Section 12-A is continuing and valid, exemptions cannot be denied. 4 [2005] 278 ITR 152 (Delhi) The assessee, a charitable trust, was In the Delhi High Court in the .engaged in the activity of providing case of Director of Income Tax medical advise to the poor and needy in . (Exemption) Vs. Keshav Social various parts of the State. During the and Charitable Foundation. relevant previous year, the assessee was asked to furnish the details of donations received by it. However, the Assessing Officer, on finding that the assessee was unable to satisfactorily explain the donations and the donors were fictitious persons, held that the assessee had tried to introduce unaccounted money in its books by way of donations and, therefore, the amount was to be treated as cash credit under section 68. On that basis, the benefit under section 11 was denied to the assessee. On appeal, the Commissioner (Appeals) held that treating donation as income under section 68 was not c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Act cannot be invoked. Since we do not find any infirmity in the order of the Id. CIT(A), we confirm the same as he has adjudicated the issue In the light of various judicial pronouncements. Accordingly we confirm his order. In the result, appeal of the Revenue stands dismissed. ln view of the above, and respectfully following the decision of Hon'ble Jurisdictional High Court in the case of ITA No. 557/Lkw/2017 Uttaranchal Welfare Society (supra) and the. Order of Hon'ble Lucknow Bench in the appeal of Saraswati Educational Charitable Trust, the addition of ₹ 8,57,31,152/- is hereby deleted. As a result the ground of appeal no. 3 and 4 are allowed. 21. In view of above facts, we do not find any infirmity in the order of the ld. CIT(A), Ground No.3 is dismissed. 25. As far as, the contention of the Ld. DR is concerned that the assessee society was subject to search on 23.03.2018 and has also filed an application before Settlement Commission and report u/s 245D(2B) of the Act has been called. We find that firstly the issue arising out of the proceedings under the search u/s 132 of the Act will not have any bearing on the instant appeals ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cer to examine the issue is concerned, we find that before us, the Revenue failed to pinpoint any material which was not considered by the Assessing Officer during the course of the assessment proceedings as the material filed before us was part of the record of the Assessing Officer/ld. CIT(A). Further, it is also settled that the ld. CIT(A) has co-terminus powers of that Assessing Officer. Therefore, we do not find any merit in the plea raised by the Revenue in these grounds. 28. As far as ground No.4 of the revenue appeal for A.Y. 2013-14 is concerned we find that the ld. Assessing Officer made the addition of ₹ 60,03,055/- based on his observation that as per the form 26AS, tax has been deducted on interest income of ₹ 1,34,99,018/- whereas the assessee has offered the income of ₹ 74,95,963/-. We further find that when the matter travelled before ld. CIT(A), the assessee contended that as per the copy of 26AS statement downloaded on 19.09.2013, the interest income is shown at ₹ 76,01,462/- and equal amount has been shown by the assessee in the income and expenditure account as interest income. 29. Under these given circumstances wherein there are d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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