The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) granted relief of ₹1.21 crore, ruling that an exemption cannot be denied merely due to the alleged non-filing of Form 10B when the assessee was in fact required to submit Form 10BB.
The taxpayer, a charitable institution, had submitted its income return for the AY 2017-18 showing nil income while claiming exemption under the Income Tax Act at the time of processing of the income return u/s 143(1) of the Income Tax Act.
U/s 11 of the Income Tax Act, the claimed exemption of the taxpayer has been rejected by the Central Processing Centre (CPC) for Rs 1,21,56,852, as the taxpayer had losses to file the audit report in the form of Form 10B for the pertinent assessment year.
U/s 154 of the Income Tax Act, the submitted rectification application of the taxpayer was rejected. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) agreed with the CPC opinion that the taxpayer was not required to submit the audit report in the required Form 10B for the pertinent assessment year.
The taxpayer, being registered u/s 10(23C)(iv), was required to submit Form 10BB instead of Form 10B. They contended that this form had already been submitted and that the CPC’s denial of the exemption was erroneous.
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Additionally, the taxpayer claimed that during the processing u/s 143(1), adjustments should not be made on debatable issues, citing the decision from Rajesh Jhaveri Stock Brokers Pvt. Ltd. v. ACIT as a reference.
After reviewing the submissions and the relevant facts and records, the Tribunal, including Judicial Member Yogesh Kumar and Accountant Member Amitabh Shukla, ruled that the taxpayer fell u/s 10(23C)(iv) and therefore was required to file Form 10BB, not Form 10B. The Tribunal noted that the exemption had been consistently granted to the taxpayer in both preceding and subsequent years.
Disregarding the lower authorities’ instructions, the Tribunal asked the Assessing Officer to approve the exemption claim of Rs 1,21,56,852, stating that denying the claim solely because Form 10B was not filed was unjustified, given the specifics of the case.
Thereafter, the taxpayer’s appeal was permitted.
| Case Title | Indian Association of Parlimentarians on Population & Development Vs. ITO |
| Case No | ITA No.5202/DEL/2025 |
| Assessee by | Shri Anil Bhalla |
| Revenue by | Ms. Ankush Kalra |
| New Delhi ITAT | Read Order |
