No disallowance under section 40A(3) for cash payment if there is no dispute as to genuinenes of payment

Anupam Tele Services vs. ITO (Gujarat High Court)

February 5th, 2014

No s. 40A(3) disallowance for cash payments even if Rule 6DD(j) exception does not apply if there is no dispute as to genuineness of payment and business compulsion

S. 40A(3) and Rule 6DD are not intended to restrict business activities. The terms of s. 40A(3) are not absolute. Considerations of business expediency and other relevant factors are not excluded. Genuine and bona fide transactions are not taken out of the sweep of the section. It is open to the assessee to furnish to the satisfaction of the AO the circumstances under which the payment in the manner prescribed in s. 40A (3) was not practicable or would have caused genuine difficulty to the payee. It is also open to the assessee to identify the person who has received the cash payment. On facts, though the case of the assessee did not fall within the exclusion clause in Rule 6DD (j), s. 40A(3) will not apply because (a) there is no doubt as to the genuineness of the payment nor the identity of the payee, (b) the assessee was compelled to pay cash owing to the insistence of its principal and if it had not abided by the direction, the business would have suffered & (c) the exceptions in Rule 6DD are not exhaustive and the rule must be interpreted liberally (Attar Singh Gurmukh Singh 191 ITR 667 (SC), Hynoup Food & Oil Industries 290 ITR 702 (Guj) & HarshilaChordia 298 ITR 349 (Raj) referred)

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