Amount borrowed for government project which was later on repaid when monies were received from government could not be treated as income of assessee

IT : Expenditure incurred by a charitable trust on international conference or training could not be disallowed on ground that it was not notified in a circular issued by CBDT
IT : Amount borrowed for government project which was later on repaid when monies were received from government could not be treated as income of assessee
IT : Exemption under section 11 could not be denied to assessee merely because assessee was not registered under AP charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987
IT : Where assessee had distributed cash to Tsunami victims, no disallowance could be made on ground that incorrect method was adopted for identifying victims
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[2014] 48 taxmann.com 330 (Hyderabad - Trib.)
IN THE ITAT HYDERABAD BENCH 'B'
Deputy Director of Income-tax (Exemption)-II, Hyderabad
v.
Society For Integrated Development in Urban & Rural Areas (SIDDUR)*
B. RAMAKOTAIAH, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER
AND SAKTIJIT DAY, JUDICIAL MEMBER
IT APPEAL NO. 674 (HYD.) OF 2011
[ASSESSMENT YEAR 2007-08]
JANUARY  3, 2014
Section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Charitable or religious trust - Exemption of income from property held under (Application of income) - Assessment year 2007-08 - Assessee, a charitable trust, incurred certain expenditure towards attendance of international conference or training - Assessing Officer disallowed same on ground that it could not be treated as spent for purpose of charitable activities under section 11(1)(a) as it was not supported by special or general order of CBDT - Whether since expenditure was incurred for purpose of advancing objects of society and not for personal benefit of secretary, it could not be said that expenditure incurred was not for charitable purpose - Held, yes - Whether it was neither necessary nor required as per statute that for availing exemption under section 11 a particular charitable activity had to be notified in a circular issued by CBDT - Held, yes [Para 11] [In favour of assessee]

Section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Charitable or religious trust - Exemption of income from property held under (Application of income) - Assessment year 2007-08 - Assessee, a charitable trust, was engaged in implementing project relating to prevention and control of HIV/AIDS amongst truckers through Govt. of Andhra Pradesh - Due to delay in receipt of amount from government it incurred expenditure on that project by borrowing some amount from outside agencies - Same was refunded, when monies were received from Government - Whether Assessing Officer was not justified in making addition of that amount - Held, yes [Para 15] [In favour of assessee]
Section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Charitable or religious trust - Exemption of income from property held under (Non registration under A.P. Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act) - Assessment year 2007-08 - Whether exemption under section 11 could not be denied to assessee merely because assessee was not registered under A.P. Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987 - Held, yes [Para 16] [In favour of assessee]
Section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Charitable or religious trust - Exemption of income from property held under (Application of income) - Assessment year 2007-08 - Assessee, a charitable trust, supplied relief materials to Tsunami victims for construction of houses as well as distributed cash to them - Assessing Officer raised a doubt that cash distribution was not transparent and method adopted by assessee for identifying poorest of poor beneficiaries was not correct and it was not entitled for exemption - Whether since Assessing Officer had not brought any material on record to show that amount had not been actually distributed by assessee to Tsunami victims, conclusion arrived at by Assessing Officer could not be accepted - Held, yes [Para 20] [In favour of assessee]