(i) It is incumbent upon the Assessing Officer to state whether penalty was being levied for concealment of particulars of income by the assessee or whether any inaccurate particulars of income had been furnished by the assessee. There are two different charges i.e. the concealment of particulars of income or furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income. The penalty can be imposed for a specific charge. Furnishing of inaccurate particulars means when the assessee has not disclosed the particulars correctly or the particulars disclosed by the assessee are incorrect. Concealment of particulars of income means when the assessee has concealed the income and has not shown the income in its return or in its books of accounts;<\/p>\n
(ii) In the case of furnishing inaccurate particulars of income, the onus is on the Revenue to, prove that the assessee had furnished the inaccurate particulars, while in the case of concealment of particulars of income, where the Explanation (1) is applicable, the onus is on the assessee to prove that he has not concealed the particulars of income;<\/p>\n
(iii) The AO failed to discharge his onus as he was not sure at the initiation of penalty u\/s 271(1)(c) for which specific charge penalty has been initiated by the Assessing Officer. Even while levying the penalty also, the Assessing Officer simply relied on the explanation to Section 271(1)(c) even though he levied the penalty for furnishing the inaccurate particulars of income. This is apparent from the provisions of Section 271(1)(c) that explanation of Section 271(1)(c) is not applicable in case inaccurate particulars are furnished. Therefore the basis of levy of penalty itself is not correct (New Sorathia Engineering Co<\/strong> (2006) 282 ITR 642 (Guj) followed)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (i) It is incumbent upon the Assessing Officer to state whether penalty was being levied for concealment of particulars of income by the assessee or whether any inaccurate particulars of income had been furnished by the assessee. There are two …<\/p>\n