Mr Bhatt, a salaried employee from Bhavnagar, Gujarat, donated Rs 12 lakh to a secular political party in AY 2019-2020 (FY 2018-19) and claimed a Section 80GGC income tax deduction under the old tax regime. His income tax return (ITR) was selected for scrutiny. He contested it but lost the case before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Ahmedabad.
According to the submission, Bhatt earned a salary of Rs 68.79 lakh in FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-2020) and filed his ITR on August 28, 2019. He claimed a deduction of Rs 12 lakh under Section 80GGC for the donation made to that political party, reducing his declared taxable income to Rs 56.79 lakh.