New Delhi, Sept. 12 -- A lapse of concentration by a small trader while filing his income tax returns resulted in a Rs.26.69 lakh tax demand. This occurred after the tax department treated the 'commission receipts' that were already included in the taxpayer's business income as fresh income.

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Chandigarh, has now deleted the entire addition, clearly explaining why it is necessary for taxpayers and tax authorities responsible for checking tax returns to distinguish between a filing error and actual income concealment, as they are entirely different.

This is a case concerning the assessment year 2017-18 and involves commission earned from the sale of mobile recharges and SIM cards, as reported by Mo...