Can common area maintenance charges be treated as business income from House Property?

Last updated: 11 August 2021

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This Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) ruling addresses whether common area maintenance (CAM) charges received by a property owner should be classified as business income or income from house property. The Revenue argued that CAM charges should be treated as income from house property. However, the Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, finding no error in treating these charges as business income.

Court :
ITAT Delhi

Brief :
With this appeal, the Revenue has challenged the correctness of the order of the CIT(A) - I, New Delhi dated 22.07.2016 pertaining to A.Y 2013-14.

Citation :
ITA No.5300/DEL/2016

IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, DELHI ‘A’ BENCH,
NEW DELHI [THROUGH VIDEO CONFERENCE]
BEFORE SHRI N.K. BILLAIYA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER, AND
SHRI K.N. CHARY, JUDICIAL MEMBER
ITA No.5300/DEL/2016
[A.Y 2013-14]

The Dy.C.I.T

Circle – 3(1)

New Delhi

[Appellant]

M/s Arham IT Infrastructure Pvt Ltd

H-334, Ground Floor

New Rajendra Nagar, New Delhi

[Respondent]

Assessee by : Shri Sudesh Garg, Adv
Revenue by : Shri Jagdish Singh, Sr. DR
Date of Hearing : 27.07.2021
Date of Pronouncement : 27.07.2021
ORDER

With this appeal, the Revenue has challenged the correctness of the order of the CIT(A) - I, New Delhi dated 22.07.2016 pertaining to A.Y 2013-14.

2. The facts of the case are that the assessee is the owner of a multi-stories properties comprising of ground plus six floors named as ‘Tapasya Corps Height in Sector 126, Noida. The assessee has shown revenue from operation of Rs. 2,99,57,551/- and miscellaneous income of Rs. 13,67,06,889/-.

3.During the assessment proceedings, it was explained that income from revenue operation is from common area maintenance charges received from the tenants.

4. After referring to various judicial decisions, the Assessing Officer treated the receipt from common area maintenance charges as ‘income from house property’.

5.Considering the totality of the facts in light of the judicial decisions discussed hereinabove, we do not find any error or infirmity in the findings of the ld. CIT(A). Both the grounds taken by the Revenue are accordingly dismissed.

6. In the result the appeal of the Revenue in ITA No. 5300/DEL/2016 is dismissed.
The order is pronounced in the open court in the presence of both the rival representative on 27.07.2021.

Please find attached the enclosed file for the full judgement

FAQ :

The main issue was whether common area maintenance (CAM) charges received by a property owner should be considered business income or income from house property for tax purposes.

The Revenue argued that the common area maintenance charges should be treated as 'income from house property'.

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) dismissed the appeal filed by the Revenue, upholding the decision of the CIT(A).

The Tribunal found no error in the CIT(A)'s findings, implying that the common area maintenance charges were correctly treated as business income rather than income from house property.