In ITA No. 7778/MUM/2012 -ITAT- Abbott India's appeals succeed as ITAT (Mumbai) quashes assessment order in name of non-existent entity
Members Prashant Maharishi (Accountant) & Narender Kumar Chaudhary (Judicial) [12-07-2023]

Read Order: Abbott India Ltd v. ACIT Range-7(2) Aayakar Bhavan

Chahat Varma

New Delhi, July 19, 2023: The Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has allowed the appeals filed by Abbott India Ltd. (formerly Solvay Pharma India Ltd) and has quashed the assessment order passed under Section 143(3) read with Section 1448 of the Income Tax Act in the name of a non-existent entity.

Brief issue involved in the present case was that Abbott India Ltd. (assessee) had contended that the Assessing Officer (AO) made an error by issuing the final assessment order in the name of a non-existent company, i.e., Solvay Pharma India Limited. The assessee claimed that as of 1 January 2011, Solvay Pharma India Limited had already merged with Abbott and they had provided intimation of the merger to the AO. The department, however, contended that the orders should not be considered invalid simply because they were issued in the name of Solvay Pharma India Limited, which had merged with Abbott India Ltd.

The two-member bench of Prashant Maharishi (Accountant) and Narender Kumar Chaudhary (Judicial) cited the case of New Age Buildtech (P.) Ltd. v. National Faceless Assessment Centre [LQ/BomHC/2023/2629] and noted that when the fact of amalgamation of a company had been brought to the attention of the AO, proceeding with the assessment and issuing an order in the name of a non-existent entity goes beyond a mere procedural defect. Such an order would be considered void.

The bench observed that in the present case, the assessee had consistently informed the assessing officer and the dispute resolution panel about the fact of amalgamation. The bench noted that there was no denial of the fact that the assessee had clearly communicated the amalgamation to the authorities at every stage and provided supporting correspondence. Based on these facts, the bench held that the assessment order passed in the name of a non-existent entity, Solvay Pharma Ltd, was void and should be quashed.