Income Tax Appellate Tribunal - Ahmedabad
Smt. Ansuyaben P Patel, Vadodara vs Dcit, Central Circle-2, Vadodara on 8 February, 2021
आयकर अपीलीय अिधकरण, अिधकरण अहमदाबाद यायपीठ 'बी' अहमदाबाद।
IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL "B" BENCH, AHMEDABAD (through web-based video conferencing platform) BEFORE SHRI RAJPAL YADAV, VICE PRESIDENT AND SHRI AMARJIT SINGH, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER SN Stay Petition # A.Y. Applicant Respondent 1 02/Ahd/2021 2012-13 M/s. Neotech Education In ITA No.135/Ahd/ 2019 Foundation, DCIT, 2 05/Ahd/2021 2013-14 18, Sapatgiri Complex, Central Circl e-2, In ITA No.136/Ahd/ 2019 Akota, Vadodara-390020 Vadodara 3 06/Ahd/2021 2014-15 [PAN : AADCN 8141 P] In ITA No.137/Ahd/ 2019 4 03/Ahd/2021 2012-13 In IT(SS) No. 31/Ahd/2019 Smt. Ansuyaben P. Patel, 5 07/Ahd/2021 2013-14 52, Sarvoday Soci ety, DCIT, In IT(SS) No. 27/Ahd/2019 Nizampura, Central Circl e-2, 6 08/Ahd/2021 2014-15 Vadodara-390005 Vadodara In IT(SS) No. 28/Ahd/2019 [PAN : AKGPP 6931 R] 7 09/Ahd/2021 2015-16 In ITA No.179/Ahd/ 2019 8 04/Ahd/2021 2012-13 In IT(SS) No. 41/Ahd/2019 Shri Pravinchandra R. Patel , 9 10/Ahd/2021 2013-14 52, Sarvoday Soci ety, DCIT, In IT(SS) No. 42/Ahd/2019 Nizampura, Central Circl e-2, 10 11/Ahd/2021 2014-15 Vadodara-390005 Vadodara In IT(SS) No. 43/Ahd/2019 [PAN : ACPPP 2695 F] 11 12/Ahd/2021 2015-16 In ITA No.299/Ahd/ 2019 Assessee by : Shri K.P. Singh, AR Revenue by : Shri R.R. Makwana, Sr. DR.
सन
ु वाई क तार ख/Date of Hearing : 05/02/2021
घोषणा क तार ख /Date of Pronouncement : 08/02/2021
आदे श/O R D E R
PER RAJPAL YADAV, VICE PRESIDENT :
The assessee M/s. Neotech Education Foundation is a company running educational institution providing technical/engineering education to students. It SP Nos. 2 to 12/Ahd/2021 Three Assessees -Neotech, Ansuyaben & Pravin Patel AYs : 2012-13 to 2015-16 -2- is also affiliated to All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi. The other two individual assessees namely Smt. Ansuyaben P. Patel and Shri Pravinchandra R. Patel are the directors in this company. There are total four assessment years namely AYs 2012-13 to 2015-16 in the case of Smt. Ansuyaben P. Patel and Shri Pravinchandra R. Patel; whereas in the case of M/s. Neotech Education Foundation the assessment years under consideration are AYs 2012-13 to 2014-15. Since the issues are interconnected; therefore, we deem it appropriate to take up all these stay applications together. We take the facts and amounts which are sought to be stayed by each assessee in seriatim; accordingly, firstly we take the facts from M/s. Neotech Education Foundation. Assessee : M/s. Neotech Education Foundation AY:2012-13
2. In this assessment year, a demand of Rs. 1,39,86,805/- has been raised by the Income-tax Department which included Rs.62,93,447/- as interest component. According to the assessee, it has filed a return of income, in response to notice received under Section 148, declaring total income at Rs. Nil. The Assessing Officer has passed an assessment order under Section 143(3) r.w.s. 147 of the Income-tax Act on 30.11.2017 whereby the income of the assessee was determined at Rs.2,81,12,000/-.
AY:2013-14
3. In this year, a demand of Rs.48,51,300/-, which included interest component of Rs.17,61,300/-, has been raised. In this year also the assessment was re-opened by issuance of notice under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act. The assessee has declared Rs. Nil income; whereas the Assessing Officer has made an addition of Rs.1,00,00,000/- on account of unexplained investment. AY:2014-15 SP Nos. 2 to 12/Ahd/2021 Three Assessees -Neotech, Ansuyaben & Pravin Patel AYs : 2012-13 to 2015-16 -3-
4. In this year, a demand of Rs.1,31,04,213/- has been raised which included interest component of Rs.47,68,839/-. Out of this, a sum of Rs.34,79,740/- has been paid by the assessee.
5. Now we take up the facts from the appeals of Smt. Ansuyaben P. Patel:-
Assessee : Smt. Ansuyaben P. Patel AY:2012-13 In this assessment year, a demand of Rs.93,00,000/- has been raised. The Assessing Officer has passed the assessment order on 30.12.2016 under Section 153A r.w.s. 143(3) of the Income-tax Act. He did not raise any demand. The learned CIT(A) issued a notice for enhancement and made an addition of Rs.1,98,00,000/- on protective basis. The substantive addition has been made in the hands of the company.
AY:2013-14
6. In this year, a demand of roughly Rs.61 lakhs has been raised against the assessee which included Rs.27,73,768/- on account of interest component. The assessee has paid Rs.76,830/-. The outstanding demand sought to be stayed has been worked out at Rs.60,62,734/-. The learned CIT(A) has made a protective addition of Rs.1 crore in her hands in this year.
AY:2014-15
7. In assessment year 2014-15, out of the outstanding demand, the assessee has paid Rs.5,10,199/- and she prayed for stay of the balance outstanding demand of Rs.59,41,684/-. The learned Assessing Officer has made an addition of Rs.55,92,307/- on account of unexplained credits in bank statement, unexplained investment, Long Term Capital Gain etc...
AY:2015-16 SP Nos. 2 to 12/Ahd/2021 Three Assessees -Neotech, Ansuyaben & Pravin Patel AYs : 2012-13 to 2015-16 -4-
8. In this year, the assessee has prayed for stay of the outstanding demand amounting to Rs.22,26,870/-. She has already paid a sum of Rs.2,81,470/- against the demand raised by the Assessing Officer. The Assessing Officer has determined a total income of the assessee at Rs.4,19,41,690/- on account of unexplained credits in bank statement, unexplained investment and income from other sources.
9. Now we take up the facts from the case of Shri Pravinchandra R. Patel.
Assessee : Shri Pravinchandra R. Patel AY:2012-13 In this assessment year, the assessee has prayed for the stay of outstanding demand amounting to Rs.1,32,13,683/-. He has already paid a sum of Rs.24,43,420/- against the total outstanding demand of Rs.1,56,57,103/. The balance outstanding demand of Rs.1,32,13,683/- is being sought to be stayed. In this year a protective addition of Rs.1,98,00,000/- has been made in the hands of the assessee on account of unexplained investments.
AY:2013-14
10. In this year, the assessee sought recovery of outstanding demand amounting to Rs.49,34,220/-. The assessee has already paid a sum of Rs.13,65,580/- against the total outstanding demand and the balance outstanding demand is being sought to be stayed.
AY:2014-15
11. In this year, a demand of Rs. 3,54,27,060/- is outstanding against the assessee. The Assessing Officer has raised a tax demand of Rs.1,95,88,922/- and SP Nos. 2 to 12/Ahd/2021 Three Assessees -Neotech, Ansuyaben & Pravin Patel AYs : 2012-13 to 2015-16 -5- calculated interest of Rs.1,70,49,036/-. The assessee has only paid Rs.12,10,898/- and the balance amount of Rs.3,54,27,060/- is outstanding.
AY:2015-16
12. In this year, the Assessing Officer has raised a tax demand of Rs.25,33,944 plus interest of Rs.15,13,407/-. The assessee has paid Rs.9,87,740/- and the balance amount of Rs.30,59,610/- is outstanding. He thus prayed that this outstanding demand be stayed during the pendency of this appeal.
13. With the assistance of learned representatives, we have gone through the record carefully. We find that a search was conducted at Sigma Group on 13.11.2014. Consequent to the search on Sigma Group, the premises of the individuals who happened to be the Directors of the Education Company were also searched on 13.11.2014. Due to this reason, an assessment under Section 153A r.w.s. 143(3) of the Income-tax Act has been made. A perusal of the assessment for the Asstt.Year 2012-13 in the case of Neotech Education Foundation would reveal that during the course of survey two papers inventorised as page 157 and 158 of Annexure A/1 were found and seized. According to the AO page no.157 is signed by Shri Pravin Patel, director of the company, and Shasikant Patel seller of the land. He observed that the assessee company has purchased the land and accounted cost at Rs.4.31 crores. This land was purchased through three sale deed amounting to Rs.1.06 cores, Rs.2.05 crores and Rs.1.20 crores. However, on reconciliation of various materials found during the course of survey, the AO formed an opinion that apart from this consideration shown in the sale deed, the company had paid Rs.5.68 crores in cash. He prepared the break-up of this cash component as under:
A.Y. 2012-13 Rs.1,98,00,000
A.Y.2013-14 Rs.1,00,00,000
A.Y.2014-15 Rs.1,35,00,000
A.Y.2015-16 Rs.1,35,00,000
Total Rs.5,68,00,000
SP Nos. 2 to 12/Ahd/2021
Three Assessees -Neotech, Ansuyaben & Pravin Patel AYs : 2012-13 to 2015-16 -6- In response to the show cause notice of the AO for the proposed addition of Rs.1.98 crores in the Asstt.Year 2012-13, it was contended by the assessee that company had disclosed a payment of Rs.2.98 crores in cash towards purchase of land. It was further contended that this company was incorporated in November, 2011. Payment for purchase of land was made by director, their relatives etc. They have already disclosed a sum of Rs.3.03 crores in aggregate. This Rs.3.03 crores included cash component of Rs.2.98 crores towards purchase of land. Thus, according to the assessee, the company has not made payment in cash as suggested by the AO. The ld.AO was not satisfied with the explanation of the assessee. He made an addition of Rs.1.98 crores on account of unexplained investment in the land. This amount has been added on protective basis in the hands of other two assessees by the ld.CIT(A). Thus, we have made an analysis of the additions made by the AO, and we are prima facie of the view that the assessees have arguable case on merit. Therefore, we deem it appropriate to stay the outstanding demand subject to the following conditions:
(i) Assessee : M/s. Neotech Education Foundation AY 2012-13 In this year, a demand of Rs.1,39,86,805/- is being sought to be stayed. We stay the recovery of this demand subject to the payment of 20% of the outstanding demand on or before 31st March 2021.
AY 2013-14 In this year also the assessee has not paid anything and a sum of Rs.48,51,300/- is outstanding. This demand is stayed subject to the payment of 20% of the total outstanding on or before 31st March 2021 AY 2014-15 In this year, a total demand of Rs.1,31,04,213/- was raised. The outstanding demand of Rs.96,24,473/- is stayed. It has to be stayed subject SP Nos. 2 to 12/Ahd/2021 Three Assessees -Neotech, Ansuyaben & Pravin Patel AYs : 2012-13 to 2015-16 -7- to the payment of 20% of the total demand of Rs.1,31,04,213/-. However, in this assessment year, we find that the assessee has already paid Rs.34,79,740/- which is more than 20% of the original demand; therefore, for stay of Rs.96,24,473/-, nothing is required to be paid by the assessee.
(ii) Assessee : Smt. Ansuyaben P. Patel AY 2012-13 In this year, the Assessing Officer has not raised any demand upon the assessee originally. The Learned CIT(A) has made a protective addition of Rs.1,98,00,000/-. This protective addition has given rise to the demand of Rs.93,00,000/-. Since we have stayed the demand of substantive addition subject to the payment of 20%; therefore, qua protective demand, nothing is required to be paid by the assessee. The recovery of this demand is dependent upon the outcome of the substantive addition and, therefore, the outstanding demand for AY 2012-13 is stayed without directing the assessee to make any payment.
AY 2013-14 In this year also the original demand was only Rs.96,220/-. The assessee has already paid Rs.76,830/-. The balance demand has been risen on account of protective addition of Rs.1,00,00,000/- made by the CIT(A). The demand of substantive addition has already been stayed by us while dealing with the application of M/s. Neotech Education Foundation. This demand is dependent upon the earlier one and, therefore, the outstanding demand of Rs.60,62,734/- is stayed without asking the assessee to pay any amount.
AY 2014-15 SP Nos. 2 to 12/Ahd/2021 Three Assessees -Neotech, Ansuyaben & Pravin Patel AYs : 2012-13 to 2015-16 -8- In this year, a demand of Rs.59,41,684/- is outstanding against the assessee. She is directed to make the payment of 20% of this demand on or before 31st March 2021, and, subject to making this payment, the balance outstanding demand shall remain stayed.
AY 2015-16 In this year, an outstanding demand of Rs.22,26,870/- is being sought to be stayed. We direct the assessee to pay 20% of this demand on or before 31st March 2021 and, subject to making this payment, the balance outstanding demand shall remain stayed.
(iii) Assessee : Shri Pravinchandra R. Patel AY 2012-13 The assessee has sought the stay of outstanding demand amounting Rs.1,32,13,683/-. He has already paid Rs.24,43,420/- out of total demand amounting to Rs.1,56,57,103/-. The 20% of the original demand would work out at Rs.34,00,000/-; out of which the assessee has already paid Rs.24,43,420/-. The interest component is also amounts to Rs.78,14,514/-. Therefore, the outstanding demand of Rs. 1,32,13,683/- is being stayed subject to payment of Rs.15,00,000/- on or before 31st March 2021.
AY 2013-14 In this year also the outstanding demand is Rs.49,34,220/-; whereas the original demand raised by the Assessing Officer was roughly Rs.63 lakhs which included Rs.27,82,175/- on account of interest. The assessee has already paid Rs.13,65,626/- which is roughly 20% of the total outstanding demand. However, we further direct the assessee to make a payment of Rs.5,00,000/- on or before 31st March 2021; and, subject to the above payment, the outstanding demand of Rs.49,34,220/- will remain stayed.
AY 2014-15 SP Nos. 2 to 12/Ahd/2021 Three Assessees -Neotech, Ansuyaben & Pravin Patel AYs : 2012-13 to 2015-16 -9- In this year, the outstanding demand of Rs.3,54,27,060/- is being sought to be stayed. The assessee has only paid Rs.12,10,898/-. The outstanding demand shall remain stayed subject to the payment of 20% of the total demand on or before 31st March 2021.
AY 2015-16 In this year, the assessee has sought the stay of outstanding demand amounting to Rs.30,59,610/-. It revealed from the order that the assessee has already paid Rs.9,87,740/- which is more than 20% of the total demand raised by the Assessing Officer in this year. Therefore, the assessee needs not to pay any further amount in this year and the outstanding demand shall remain stayed.
14. This stay order will operate in all assessment years subject to the conditions mentioned in each assessment year in the case of each assessee.
15. If all conditions are fulfilled, then it will remain in operation for a period of 180 days from today or till the disposal of appeals whichever event occurs first.
16. The assessee(s) is directed to file paper-books and other details before the next date of hearing. The Registry is directed to list all these appeals for hearing on 9th March 2021. The assessee(s) will not seek any adjournment unless unavoidable circumstance warrants so.
17. In the result, all the Stay Applications are allowed as per the terms indicated above.
Order pronounced in the Court on 8th February, 2021 at Ahmedabad.
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(AMARJIT SINGH) (RAJPAL YADAV)
ACCOUNTANT MEMBER VICE-PRESIDENT
Ahmedabad; Dated 08/02/2021
Biju T/VK., Sr.PS