The Rajkot Bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ( ITAT ) ruled the appeal infructuous in a case concerning the denial of a Section 80P of Income Tax Act,1961 deduction due to delayed filing. Liliya Lathi Taluka Sahkari Kharid Vechan Sangh Ltd,appellant-assessee, appealed against the order dated  28/08/2024 passed by Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)[CIT(A)] for the Assessment Year (AY) 2019-20, which arose from the assessment order dated 11/01/2021 issued by Centralized Processing Centre – Assessing Officer (CPC-AO) under Section 143(1) of the Act. Know Practical Aspects of Tax Planning, Click Here

The assessee’s counsel stated that the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (CCIT), Rajkot, allowed a petition for condonation of delay under Section 119(2)(b) of the Act through an order dated 14/11/2024. Since the delay was condoned, which was the only reason for CPC-AO’s rejection of the Section 80P claim, the appeal became infructuous and was sought to be withdrawn. Section 80P of the Act provides a 100% tax deduction for cooperative societies engaged in banking for members, cottage industries, agriculture marketing, labor collectives, and fishing. Cooperative banks are generally ineligible, and interest from bank deposits does not qualify. Courts have upheld benefits for primary agricultural credit societies while excluding cooperative banks.

The two member bench comprising Dinesh Mohan Sinha (Judicial Member) and Dr.A.L.Saini (Accountant Member) considered arguments from both sides and accepted the assessee’s request, noting that the CCIT had condoned the delay in filing the return, which was the only reason for CPC-AO’s rejection of the Section 80P claim. Since the appeal had become infructuous, the tribunal instructed the assessing officer to issue the consequential order promptly as per the law. Know Practical Aspects of Tax Planning, Click Here Read More: Income Tax Demand on Denial of Benefit u/s 80P: Kerala HC sets aside Recovery on Pendency of Appeal before ITAT In short,the appeal filed by the assessee was dismissed as withdrawn. To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE