I-T tribunal rejects Cong plea for tax exemption on ₹199cr income

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Tuesday rejected an appeal from Congress against the I-T department for withdrawing a tax exemption to the party for the assessment year 2018-19 and adding Rs 199 crore as its income through donations.

The tribunal, headed by judicial member Satbeer Singh Godara and comprising M Balaganesh, declined to interfere with the department's assessment order against Congress. The I-T order rejected Congress's tax exemption for not filing returns for AY 2018-19 by the due date, and thus, added the income of Rs 199 crore to the party, on which it will be liable to pay tax.

The appellate tribunal also refused to allow Congress to net its income against the expenditure on the grounds that it had violated section 13(A) of the I-T Act. The order also found violations of receiving cash donations of more than Rs 14 lakh, which were over Rs 2,000 each. Election Commission guidelines mandate that any donation above Rs 2,000 has to be through bank transfer. Congress's appeal was first rejected by the Commissioner of I-T (Appeal) after which the party approached the tribunal in March 2023.

"Whether the assessee's impugned section 13A exemption claim violates clauses (b) and (d) of the first proviso thereto is concerned, we have already held that its return filed on Feb 2, 2019, was a time barred one, and the same stands academic and rejected accordingly," the bench observed.

On the question of "netting" basis - claiming corresponding expenditure against receipts - the tribunal noted that the "High Court's decision has concluded the very issue in the department's favour - the legal position is that no deduction can be allowed with respect to the expenditure incurred by the political party for any purpose whatsoever if it fails to comply with the basic requirements of the Act's section 13A."

"We thus conclude that given the fact the assessee has been held to have violated section 13A, third proviso in not filing its return within the prescribed due date, its impugned netting claim also deserves to be declined in very terms," the tribunal said dismissing Congress' appeal.