Pr. Commissioner of Income-tax v. SBI Card Payment Service Pvt. Ltd
[Citation -2019-LL-0821-74]
| Citation | 2019-LL-0821-74 |
|---|---|
| Appellant Name | Pr. Commissioner of Income-tax |
| Respondent Name | SBI Card Payment Service Pvt. Ltd. |
| Court | HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI |
| Relevant Act | Income-tax |
| Date of Order | 21/08/2019 |
| Assessment Year | 2004-05 |
| Judgment | View Judgment |
| Keyword Tags | accounting policy • change of opinion • actuarial basis • audit objection • incentive • refund • reopening of assessment |
| Bot Summary: | This is an appeal by the Revenue against an order dated 3 rd October 2018 passed by the ITAT in ITA No.2672/Del/2015 for the Assessment Year 2004-05. The question of law sought to be urged by the Revenue is whether the ITAT erred in holding the reopening of the assessment under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on the basis of an audit objection to be invalid 3. The ITAT has after discussing the reasons for reopening of the assessment come to the conclusion that the basis for reopening was on account of change of opinion by the Assessing Officer. In paras 9, 10 and 11 the ITAT observed as under: 9. Bare perusal of the reasons recorded apparently shows that initially the assessment was reopened to bring the taxable income of the assessee on two grounds, but all of sudden, the AO has proceeded to make the addition on third ground also, that the assessee has debited Rs. 1,38,86,548/- on actuarial basis towards liability in respect of reward points granted to cardholders under the triple advantage reward points scheme for which no reason has been recorded and any notice has been issued to the assessee. It is the categoric case of the assessee that so far as question of explaining the exclusivity Incentive of Rs 2,26,00,000/- from Visa International for two years and change of accounting policy during the year under assessment is concerned, both the facts have been disclosed by the assessee during original assessment proceedings and the same have been discussed in the assessment order passed u/s 143 of the Act. As regards the change in the accounting policy again the ITAT noted that the said already been decided in Para 2 of the assessment order completed under Section 143(3) of the Act and on both grounds the AO has reviewed his own decision without having any new intangible material to reopen the assessment which is not permissible under law as it amounts to change of opinion. |