The ITAT Ahmedabad has remanded the case of Hansaben Babubhai Patel to the first appellate authority for fresh adjudication after marking that the senior citizen could not follow the online notices during the appellate proceedings because of an absence of knowledge for digital gadgets.
The appeal was submitted 218 days late from the statutory time limit. Thereafter, the taxpayer filed the appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and provided an affidavit specifying the reason for late filing.
She said that she is a senior citizen and does not know about electronic gadgets. Therefore, she could not access the appellate order, which directed a delay of 218 days in filing the appeal.
The taxpayer, Hansaben Babubhai Patel, failed to submit any ITR for AY 2018-19. The Assessing Officer (AO) reopened his case because, during the relevant year, she had purchased immovable property of Rs 66 lakh but had not paid any tax on the resulting capital gains.
During the proceedings, the taxpayer stated that she is not the 100% owner of the property; rather, she holds only a 50% share in it. The taxpayer mentioned that a computation of the cost of acquisition of the property was submitted before the Assessing Officer (AO), but it was denied.
Furthermore, transfer expenses amounting to Rs 4.65 lakh were not accepted while calculating the long-term capital gains (LTCG) of Rs 8.20 lakh.
The taxpayer contested the decision of the AO before the CIT(A), but the appeal was dismissed without considering the merits of the case due to the taxpayer’s failure to comply with legal notices.
Subsequently, the taxpayer approached the ITAT and requested another chance to represent her case. Her representative explained that the taxpayer is a senior citizen and had relied on her lawyer to comply with the notices; the failure to adhere to the requirements was due to an oversight by the lawyer.
After examining the facts of the matter, the Tribunal observed that the taxpayer had complied with the AO’s notices and submitted her LTCG computation, according to which the capital gains amounted to only Rs 1.72 lakh.
The Tribunal held that, given her age and the difficulties she was facing with online compliance, it was appropriate to grant him another chance.
Also Read: Ahmedabad ITAT Grants Relief to Senior Citizen, Condones 153-Day Delay; Orders Fresh Assessment
Thus, the ITAT quashed the order and remanded the case to the CIT(A) for fresh consideration and asked the taxpayer to comply with the notices during the proceedings. The appeal was permitted for statistical purposes.
| Case Title | Hansaben Babubhai Patel vs. Income Tax Officer |
| Case No. | ITA No. 2762/AHD/2026 |
| Assessee by | Shri Samir Vora |
| Revenue by | Shri Tapan Kumar Chattergee |
| Ahmedabad ITAT | Read Order |
