Income Tax Appellate Tribunal - Ahmedabad
Nilkanth Specific Family Trust,, ... vs Dcit, Mehsana Circle,, Mehsana on 6 July, 2018
आयकर अपील य अ धकरण, अहमदाबाद यायपीठ 'A' अहमदाबाद ।
IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL "A" BENCH, AHMEDABAD BEFORE SHRI PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER & SMT. MADHUMITA ROY, JUDICIAL MEMBER आयकर अपील सं./I.T.A. No. 183/Ahd/2018 ( नधा रण वष / Assessment Year : 2014-15) Nilkanth Specific Family बनाम/ Deputy Commissioner of Trust, Vs. Income-tax, Prop. of Karan Paper Mills, Mehsana Circle, Mehsana 1074/B, 1075 to 1078, Kadi Kalol Road, Chhatral, Dist.
Mehsana थायी ले खा सं . /जीआइआर सं . /PAN/GIR No. : AAATN1399K (अपीलाथ /Appellant) .. ( यथ / Respondent) अपीलाथ ओर से /Appellant by : Shri Hemanshu Shah, A.R. यथ क ओर से / Shri Saurabh Singh, Sr. D.R. Respondent by :
सन ु वाई क तार ख / Date of 20/06/2018 Hearing घोषणा क तार ख /Date of 06/07/2018 Pronouncement आदे श/O R D E R PER PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA - AM:
The captioned appeal has been filed at the instance of the assessee against the order of the CIT(A), Gandhinagar ('CIT(A)' in short), dated 18.12.2017 arising in the assessment order dated 30.12.2016 passed by the Assessing Officer (AO) u/s. 143(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the Act) concerning assessment year 2014-15.
2. The solitary issue in the captioned appeals is against the denial of business deduction under s. 36(1)(va) on account of alleged late I T A N o . 1 8 3 / Ah d / 1 8 [ N i l k a n t h S p e c i f i c F a m i l y T r u s t vs. DC IT] A.Y. 2014-15 - 2 -
payment of employees' contribution to Provident Fund (PF) and Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) amounting to Rs.1,74,803/-.
3. The CIT(A) denied the relief claimed by the assessee in the first appeal.
4. Aggrieved, the assessee preferred appeal before the Tribunal.
5. We have examined the issue towards allowability of PF & ESIC under s.36(1)(va) of the Act. We notice at the outset that the decision of the Hon'ble Gujarat High Court in the case of CIT vs. Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation 366 ITR 170 (Guj) is against the assessee on the first principles. The Hon'ble Gujarat High Court considered the question with respect to the disallowance of amount being employees' contribution to PF account/ESIC contribution, which admittedly, the assessee in that case did not deposit with the PF department/ ESIC department on or before the due date under the PF Act and/or ESI Act. However, on perusal of the orders of the lower authorities, we simultaneously observe that the assessee has tried to demonstrate that employees' contribution to PF/ESIC has been made before the 'due date' as prescribed under the respective Act having regard to the month of disbursement of salary/wages and also the grace period available under the relevant Acts. It is thus broadly the case of the assessee that the relevant 'due date' for making payment of contribution has to be seen not with reference to the relevant months relatable to wages/salary but the month of its actual disbursement. Coupled with this, grace period available under the respective Act is also required to be taken into account. In this regard, we observe that the co-ordinate bench of Tribunal in Kanoi Paper & Industries Ltd. vs. ACIT 75 TTJ 448 has observed that the relevant due date in such a case is to be seen with reference to the month of the actual disbursement of wages/salaries. We also are of the view that grace I T A N o . 1 8 3 / Ah d / 1 8 [ N i l k a n t h S p e c i f i c F a m i l y T r u s t vs. DC IT] A.Y. 2014-15 - 3 -
period available under the respective Acts should be taken into account while computing the delay, if any.
6. Hence, we consider it expedient to restore the issue back to the file of the AO for factual verification and re-determination of the issue in the light of the observations made by the co-ordinate bench in the case of Kanoi Paper & Industries Ltd. (supra). The AO shall thus re-compute the amount of disallowance under s.36(1)(va) of the Act, if any, on the above basis, in accordance with law. The assessee shall be entitled to relief under s. 36(1)(va) of the Act where it is found that the deposits have been made towards PF/ESIC within the due date from the close of month of actual disbursement of salary/wages in the light of interpretation rendered in case of Kanoi Paper & Industries Ltd. (supra).
7. In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
This Order pronounced in Open Court on 06/07/2018
Sd/- Sd/-
(MADHUMITA ROY) (PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA)
JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMBER
Ahmedabad: Dated 06/07/2018
True Copy
S. K. SINHA
आदे श क त!ल"प अ#े"षत / Copy of Order Forwarded to:-
1. राज व / Revenue
2. आवेदक / Assessee
3. संबं*धत आयकर आयु,त / Concerned CIT
4. आयकर आयु,त- अपील / CIT (A)
5. 0वभागीय 3त3न*ध, आयकर अपील य अ*धकरण, अहमदाबाद / DR, ITAT, Ahmedabad
6. गाड9 फाइल / Guard file.
By order/आदे श से, उप/सहायक पंजीकार आयकर अपील य अ*धकरण, अहमदाबाद ।