IN THE INCOME-TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, SURAT BENCH, SURAT BEFORE SHRI DINESH MOHAN SINHA, JUDICIAL MEMBER &

SHRI BIJAYANANDA PRUSETH, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER आयकर अपील स.ं /ITA No.1079/SRT/2024 Assessment Year: 2022-23 (Hybrid hearing)

Manilal Bhanabhai Gohil Income Tax Officer (Exemption), Education Trust, बनाम/ Surat, Ayakar Bhawan, Majura Post Box No.68, Nr. Ramaben Vs. Gate, Surat-395 001 Hospital, Bodali, Navsari- 396

445 èथायीलेखासं./जीआइआरसं./PAN/GIR No: AABTM 9517 D (अपीलाथ५/Appellant) (ঋ(cid:529)थ५ /Respondent)

िनधा१ौरती की ओर से /Appellant by Shri Kamlesh Bhatt, CA राज(cid:738) की ओर से /Respondent by Shri Ajay Uke, Sr-DR सुनवाई की तारीख/Date of Hearing 30/07/2025 उद्घोषणा की तारीख/Date of Pronouncement 14/10/2025 आदेश / O R D E R PER BIJAYANANDA PRUSETH, AM:

This appeal by assessee emanates from the order passed under section

250 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (in short, ‘the Act’) dated 30.08.2024 by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeal) Addl/JCIT(A)-11, Delhi [in short, ‘CIT(A)’] for the Assessment Year (AY) 2022-23, which in turn arises out of assessment order passed by the Centralized Processing Centre/Assessing Officer (AO) u/s

143(1) of the Act on dated 02.06.2023.

2. Grounds of appeal raised by the assessee are as under:

1. In view of the facts and circumstances of the case the CPC UNIT/Jurisdictional AO erred in law and in facts in disregarding the Form 10B filed by the appellant and Ld. CIT(A), NFAC, New Delhi erred in law and in facts, in affirming the action of CPC Unit thereby confirming the adjustment of Rs.1,81,24,428/- intimation u/s 143(1) of the I.T. Act, 1961 and hence your appellant prays that the CPC/Jurisdictional AO be directed to take on record and consider Form 10B filed by the appellant and delete the adjustment made to the returned income of the appellant.”

3. Facts of the case in brief are that the assessee is a charitable trust and was incorporated on 09.06.1999. It is engaged in educational activities such as, running of schools and nursing college. The trust was registered u/s 12A of the Act on 14.10.2021. The assessee-trust filed its return of income declaring total income at Rs. Nil on 20.12.2022 and claimed refund of Rs.20,620/-. The return was processed u/s 143(1) of the Act on 02.06.2023 assessing the total income at Rs.1,81,24,428/- and raising a demand of Rs.84,53,550/-. The AO/CPC has not granted exemption u/s 11 of the Act on the ground that assessee is registered u/s 12A but did not e-file the audit report in Form-10B at least one month before due date of return u/s 139(1) of the Act in accordance with the provision of Section 12A(a)(b) of the Act. The total receipt was taxed without giving deduction of expenditure incurred by the assessee-trust. Aggrieved by the order of AO assessee preferred appeal before CIT(A).

4. The CIT(A) observed that the power to condone delay in filing Form-10B does not vest with the CIT(A) and the assessee has to make request before the appropriate authority. The contention that accountant of assessee-trust was sick and hence there was delay in filing audit report was not accepted on the ground that assessee-trust could have made alternative arrangement to finalize the books of account. The assessee-trust had relied on a number of decisions to state that exemption u/s 11 of the Act cannot be denied only on account of delay in filing the audit report in Form-10B. He did not accept the decision relied upon by the appellant by observing that they were rendered when electronic filing of ITR and audit reports were not in vague. He relied on the decision of ITAT Delhi in case of Pradeep Kumar Batra vs. DCIT (CPC) dated 23.10.20220 in ITA No.6384/Del/2019 where deduction u/s 80IB was not allowed for non-filing of the audit report in electronic manner in time on or before the due date of filing of the return. The CIT(A), therefore, upheld the processing of return and dismissed the appeal.

5. Aggrieved by the order of CIT(A), the assessee-trust has filed present appeal before