The Appellate Tribunal considered the levy of penalty u/s 270A. ...

Assessee not penalized for alleged tax evasion due to lack of concrete evidence. Penalty deleted.

Case Laws     Income Tax

June 11, 2024

The Appellate Tribunal considered the levy of penalty u/s 270A. The Assessing Officer (AO) imposed the penalty u/s 270A(9)(a) for misrepresentation of facts and misreporting of income. However, the Tribunal found that the assessee had provided evidence of expenses through books, vouchers, and banking channels. The CIT(A) agreed that there was no failure to claim expenditure. The Tribunal noted that the AO did not provide fresh notice to the assessee after changing the basis for penalty. The disallowance of expenditure on an estimate basis was not sufficient for penalty u/s 270A(9)(a) or (c). The authorities did not independently examine the matter for penalty. The Tribunal held that disallowance alone cannot justify the penalty without proof of misrepresentation or suppression of facts. As there was no evidence of misrepresentation, the penalty was deleted, and the assessee's appeal was allowed.

View Source