India's Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Orders Fresh Hearings in Two Tax Cases

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in Surat ruled that taxpayer Yatin Vinubhai Dudhata, who declared a total income of ₹32.42 lakh for AY 2023‑24, was denied a fair hearing because notices were sent to a temporary email address. The assessing officer had completed the assessment ex parte, taxing him at ₹23.05 crore. The ITAT condoned the delay in filing the appeal, remanded the case back to the assessing officer and granted the taxpayer a second opportunity to be heard.

In a separate ruling, the ITAT Kolkata partially allowed an appeal by Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra challenging the denial of tax exemption under Sections 11 and 12 for AY 2020‑21. Although the audit report in Form 10B was filed four months late, it was available at the time the return was processed. The tribunal held that the exemption could not be denied while processing the return under Section 143(1) and directed the pending condonation application be considered before final adjudication. Both matters were set aside and remanded for fresh consideration.