We missed the s.80JJAA claim in the return and raised it for the first time in appeal, with the Form 10DA report in hand. Can the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Tribunal still allow it?
No. The Mumbai Tribunal held that s.80A(5) disentitles an assessee from claiming a deduction under s.80JJAA where the claim was not made in the return of income, and that this disposes of the matter without going into any other aspect. It was no answer that the chartered accountant's Form 10DA had been issued, because the Tribunal found nothing on record that prevented the assessee from raising the claim and filing Form 10DA before the Assessing Officer during the scrutiny proceedings, which ran on until the assessment order was passed. The appeal was dismissed.
Decided by the ITAT (Shri Vikram Singh Yadav, Accountant Member and Shri Sandeep Singh Karhail, Judicial Member (ITAT Mumbai 'C' Bench)) on 2026-02-20, reported as ITA No. 5282/MUM/2025, assessment year 2018-19; heard 10 February 2026, order pronounced 20 February 2026. It bears on section 80JJAA, section 80A(5), section 115JB, section 143(2), section 142(1), section 143(3), section 10A, section 10AA, section 10B of the Income Tax Act 1961, in Deductions & Disallowances and Appeals matters.
This is the hard edge that a practitioner has to see before advising a client that a missed deduction can be picked up on appeal. Section 80A(5) is not a procedural irregularity that a first appellate authority can excuse; it is a substantive bar in terms — no deduction shall be allowed thereunder — and by its own words it covers s.10A, s.10AA, s.10B, s.10BA and every deduction in Part C of Chapter VI-A, which is where s.80JJAA sits. The Tribunal's reasoning also closes the sympathetic route: the assessee had a window of more than a year between the date of the accountant's report and the completion of the assessment, and did nothing with it, so the claim was not one that only became available later. Note the difference from the Form 10DA cases: a late but filed report is capable of condonation, as the Delhi Tribunal did for a one-day delay in ManpowerGroup Services India, but a claim never made in the return is a different failure and s.80A(5) answers it. Note also that s.80AC would independently have barred the claim had the return been late; here the return was on time, and the assessee still lost.
Binding on the AO and CIT(A) within the Tribunal's jurisdiction. Persuasive elsewhere.
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The assessee, a public company distributing third-party investment products and providing investment advisory services to corporates and high net worth individuals, filed its return for assessment year 2018-19 on 31 October 2018 declaring total income of Rs 8,72,15,820 under the normal provisions and book profit of Rs 36,54,47,803 under s.115JB. The return was selected for scrutiny through CASS, notices under s.143(2) and s.142(1) were issued and served, and the scrutiny proceedings culminated in an order dated 29 January 2021 under s.143(3) read with s.143(3A) and s.143(3B) accepting the returned income under the normal provisions. The assessee had not claimed any deduction under s.80JJAA in its return. The chartered accountant's report in Form 10DA in respect of a s.80JJAA claim of Rs 3,06,30,724 for additional employee cost was issued on 30 October 2019 — after the return had been filed — and the claim was made for the first time before the Commissioner (Appeals), who dismissed the ground.
The appeal was dismissed. Section 80A(5) provides that where an assessee fails to make a claim in his return of income for any deduction under s.10A, s.10AA, s.10B, s.10BA or under any provision of Chapter VI-A under the heading 'C.—Deductions in respect of certain incomes', no deduction shall be allowed to him thereunder; s.80JJAA falls within that heading; the assessee undisputedly made no claim in its return and made the claim for the first time before the Commissioner (Appeals); accordingly, without going into any other aspect of the matter, s.80A(5) disentitles the assessee from claiming the deduction, and the denial of the claim was upheld (paragraphs 14 and 15).
The Tribunal first disposed of the assessee's reliance on the accountant's report: Form 10DA has relevance only for the purpose of claiming a deduction under s.80JJAA, and although the chartered accountant issued it on 30 October 2019, there was no material on record showing what prevented the assessee from raising a fresh claim and filing Form 10DA before the Assessing Officer during the scrutiny proceedings, which were completed only on 29 January 2021 (paragraph 11). It then set out s.80A(5) in full (paragraph 12) and applied it: s.80JJAA is a deduction under Chapter VI-A under the heading 'C.—Deductions in respect of certain incomes', the assessee made no claim in the return, and the claim was made for the first time before the Commissioner (Appeals), so the statutory bar operated without any need to examine the merits (paragraph 13).
Therefore, without going into any other aspect of the matter in the present case, it is evident that section 80A(5) disentitles the assessee from claiming the deduction under section 80-JJAA of the Act.
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Handle my notice → Ask a CA on WhatsAppNo. The Mumbai Tribunal held that s.80A(5) disentitles an assessee from claiming a deduction under s.80JJAA where the claim was not made in the return of income, and that this disposes of the matter without going into any other aspect. It was no answer that the chartered accountant's Form 10DA had been issued, because the Tribunal found nothing on record that prevented the assessee from raising the claim and filing Form 10DA before the Assessing Officer during the scrutiny proceedings, which ran on until the assessment order was passed. The appeal was dismissed. This was decided by the ITAT (Shri Vikram Singh Yadav, Accountant Member and Shri Sandeep Singh Karhail, Judicial Member (ITAT Mumbai 'C' Bench)) and bears on section 80JJAA, section 80A(5), section 115JB, section 143(2), section 142(1), section 143(3), section 10A, section 10AA, section 10B of the Income Tax Act 1961. It is reported as ITA No. 5282/MUM/2025, assessment year 2018-19; heard 10 February 2026, order pronounced 20 February 2026. This is the hard edge that a practitioner has to see before advising a client that a missed deduction can be picked up on appeal. Section 80A(5) is not a procedural irregularity that a first appellate authority can excuse; it is a substantive bar in terms — no deduction shall be allowed thereunder — and by its own words it covers s.10A, s.10AA, s.10B, s.10BA and every deduction in Part C of Chapter VI-A, which is where s.80JJAA sits. The Tribunal's reasoning also closes the sympathetic route: the assessee had a window of more than a year between the date of the accountant's report and the completion of the assessment, and did nothing with it, so the claim was not one that only became available later. Note the difference from the Form 10DA cases: a late but filed report is capable of condonation, as the Delhi Tribunal did for a one-day delay in ManpowerGroup Services India, but a claim never made in the return is a different failure and s.80A(5) answers it. Note also that s.80AC would independently have barred the claim had the return been late; here the return was on time, and the assessee still lost. If it applies to you, the first step is this: Make the claim in the return, even provisionally and even where the quantification is incomplete; s.80A(5) turns on whether a claim was made, and there is no relief route once the return has gone in without it.
The assessee, a public company distributing third-party investment products and providing investment advisory services to corporates and high net worth individuals, filed its return for assessment year 2018-19 on 31 October 2018 declaring total income of Rs 8,72,15,820 under the normal provisions and book profit of Rs 36,54,47,803 under s.115JB. The return was selected for scrutiny through CASS, notices under s.143(2) and s.142(1) were issued and served, and the scrutiny proceedings culminated in an order dated 29 January 2021 under s.143(3) read with s.143(3A) and s.143(3B) accepting the returned income under the normal provisions. The assessee had not claimed any deduction under s.80JJAA in its return. The chartered accountant's report in Form 10DA in respect of a s.80JJAA claim of Rs 3,06,30,724 for additional employee cost was issued on 30 October 2019 — after the return had been filed — and the claim was made for the first time before the Commissioner (Appeals), who dismissed the ground. The matter was decided on 2026-02-20 by the ITAT (Shri Vikram Singh Yadav, Accountant Member and Shri Sandeep Singh Karhail, Judicial Member (ITAT Mumbai 'C' Bench)). On those facts the ITAT held as follows. The appeal was dismissed. Section 80A(5) provides that where an assessee fails to make a claim in his return of income for any deduction under s.10A, s.10AA, s.10B, s.10BA or under any provision of Chapter VI-A under the heading 'C.—Deductions in respect of certain incomes', no deduction shall be allowed to him thereunder; s.80JJAA falls within that heading; the assessee undisputedly made no claim in its return and made the claim for the first time before the Commissioner (Appeals); accordingly, without going into any other aspect of the matter, s.80A(5) disentitles the assessee from claiming the deduction, and the denial of the claim was upheld (paragraphs 14 and 15).
The Tribunal first disposed of the assessee's reliance on the accountant's report: Form 10DA has relevance only for the purpose of claiming a deduction under s.80JJAA, and although the chartered accountant issued it on 30 October 2019, there was no material on record showing what prevented the assessee from raising a fresh claim and filing Form 10DA before the Assessing Officer during the scrutiny proceedings, which were completed only on 29 January 2021 (paragraph 11). It then set out s.80A(5) in full (paragraph 12) and applied it: s.80JJAA is a deduction under Chapter VI-A under the heading 'C.—Deductions in respect of certain incomes', the assessee made no claim in the return, and the claim was made for the first time before the Commissioner (Appeals), so the statutory bar operated without any need to examine the merits (paragraph 13). In the words reproduced by the source cited on this page: "Therefore, without going into any other aspect of the matter in the present case, it is evident that section 80A(5) disentitles the assessee from claiming the deduction under section 80-JJAA of the Act."
It was decided by the ITAT on 2026-02-20 and is reported as ITA No. 5282/MUM/2025, assessment year 2018-19; heard 10 February 2026, order pronounced 20 February 2026. Binding on the AO and CIT(A) within the Tribunal's jurisdiction. Persuasive elsewhere. A Tribunal decision binds the assessing officer and the Commissioner (Appeals) within that Tribunal's jurisdiction, and is persuasive before other benches. It is not binding on a High Court, and a contrary co-ordinate bench decision will be argued against you, so check whether the point has been taken the other way before you build a reply around it. On section 80JJAA, section 80A(5), section 115JB, section 143(2), section 142(1), section 143(3), section 10A, section 10AA, section 10B, the practical question is whether the facts of your own notice match the facts of this case closely enough for the same rule to apply.
It helps the department, and it appears in this library for that reason — you need to know what the Assessing Officer will cite against you. The appeal was dismissed. Section 80A(5) provides that where an assessee fails to make a claim in his return of income for any deduction under s.10A, s.10AA, s.10B, s.10BA or under any provision of Chapter VI-A under the heading 'C.—Deductions in respect of certain incomes', no deduction shall be allowed to him thereunder; s.80JJAA falls within that heading; the assessee undisputedly made no claim in its return and made the claim for the first time before the Commissioner (Appeals); accordingly, without going into any other aspect of the matter, s.80A(5) disentitles the assessee from claiming the deduction, and the denial of the claim was upheld (paragraphs 14 and 15). It arises in Deductions & Disallowances and Appeals matters, on section 80JJAA, section 80A(5), section 115JB, section 143(2), section 142(1), section 143(3), section 10A, section 10AA, section 10B of the Income Tax Act 1961, and was decided by Shri Vikram Singh Yadav, Accountant Member and Shri Sandeep Singh Karhail, Judicial Member (ITAT Mumbai 'C' Bench). Before relying on it, read the source linked on this page and check whether it has since been distinguished, overruled or overtaken by an amendment to the Income Tax Act. In practice the steps that follow from it are these. If the omission is discovered while the assessment is still open, put the claim and Form 10DA before the Assessing Officer at once — the Tribunal's reason for refusing relief was that nothing had prevented the assessee from doing exactly that. Where the omission is discovered before the time for a revised return expires, revise under s.139(5) rather than waiting for appeal. Do not rely on Goetze-type arguments about an appellate authority's power to entertain a fresh claim without addressing s.80A(5) first; the Tribunal here decided the case on s.80A(5) 'without going into any other aspect of the matter'. Where the return has been filed late as well, expect s.80AC to bar the claim independently of s.80A(5). Consider whether s.119(2)(b) condonation of the delay in filing the return, or a revision route, is available on the facts before conceding the deduction entirely.
Validity check could not be completed. Validity check could not be completed. I read the order's header and the first line of each of its sixteen numbered paragraphs from the plain document URL and transcribed paragraphs 4 and 11 to 16 verbatim, including the disposal and the signature block; the operative sentence at paragraph 13 was re-verified through a separate document-fragment fetch, which returned it in identical words. The order is recent (20 February 2026) and I did NOT check for any appeal to the Bombay High Court and did not run a citator check. No source could be cited for that finding. Checking whether an authority still stands matters as much as knowing what it held: a decision may be overruled on one point and survive on another, or the provision it interprets may have been amended since. Read the source and the editor's note on this page before relying on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal.
The order is short and complete — sixteen numbered paragraphs ending with the pronouncement on 20 February 2026 and the signatures of both Members. Paragraph 13 reproduces s.80A(5) verbatim in a block quotation with the notation '(Emphasis supplied)'; that is the Tribunal quoting the statute and the emphasis is the Tribunal's, so the reproduction should be cited as the statutory text and not as the Tribunal's own words. The order does not decide whether the assessee otherwise satisfied s.80JJAA; the Tribunal expressly declined to go into any other aspect of the matter. This library shows the verification state of every entry openly. This entry has not yet been read in full by a chartered accountant. The summary reflects the sources listed on this page. Read the source before you rely on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
The appeal was dismissed. Section 80A(5) provides that where an assessee fails to make a claim in his return of income for any deduction under s.10A, s.10AA, s.10B, s.10BA or under any provision of Chapter VI-A under the heading 'C.—Deductions in respect of certain incomes', no deduction shall be allowed to him thereunder; s.80JJAA falls within that heading; the assessee undisputedly made no claim in its return and made the claim for the first time before the Commissioner (Appeals); accordingly, without going into any other aspect of the matter, s.80A(5) disentitles the assessee from claiming the deduction, and the denial of the claim was upheld (paragraphs 14 and 15).
Every entry in this library links to where it was found, so you can check it yourself rather than take our word for it.
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