M/S. GMV SERVICES,DELHI vs. ACIT (CPC- TDS), GHAZIABAD

That the orders of the lower authorities are not justified on facts and same are bad in law.

During the hearing, despite giving notice, none appeared for the assessee before us. Notice for hearing was properly issued and served upon the assessee within time. Thus, the service was complete, but since none is present on behalf of the assessee, we are proceeding on the basis of order u/s 200A of the Act and the order of the CIT(A).

The Ld. DR relied upon the Order u/s 200A of the Act and the order of the CIT(A).

We have heard Ld. DR and perused all the relevant material available on record. The fee u/s 234E is required to be mandatorily paid by the deductor at the time of submission of the TDS statement, calculated at the rate of Rupees two hundred per day. There is no provision in the Act which allows for waiver from the payment of such fees on grounds like the ones raised by the appellant. Any such condonation of delay or leniency would mean punishing the law abiding deductors who had duly calculated the fees u/s 234E and paid the same. Non levy of the fee would mean punishing the honest and rewarding the guilty, which can never be the intention of the legislature. In a judgment passed by the Hon’ble Kerala High Court in case of Shree Narayana Guru Smaraka Sangam Upper Primary School vs. UOI & Ors. (WP(C).No. 30229 of 2013 (C) dated 13.12.2016, the Hon’ble High Court upheld the levy of fee u/s 234E and has held that “on account of the additional work burden which has fallen upon the department due to the fault of the deductor that a fee has been levied.” Hence the claim of the appellant that late filing was only procedural and did not result in any loss to Revenue has no bearing on the levy of fee u/s 234E. This reasoning is also followed by the various Hon’ble High Courts in the cases of Rashmikant Kundalia vs. Union of India 2015 (54) Taxman.com 200 (Bombay), Lakshminirman Bangalore (P) Ltd. vs. DCIT, Ghaziabad [(2015) 60 taxmann.com 144], M/s Dundlod Shikshan Sansthan vs. Union of India and Shree Narayana Guru Smarak Sangam Upper Primary School vs. UOI & Ors. cited (supra). Therefore, it is pertinent to note that the assessee is admitting that late filing of TDS return was due to technical and procedural default and not on account of any withholding of TDS by the assessee. Section 234E of the Act clearly sets out that the fee imposed under Section 234E is levied towards regularization of the delay in filing of a TDS return or statement; since the Revenue department has to expend extra effort and resources for processing delayed TDS returns or statements and possibly also incurs the additional burden of interest to be paid to the assessee on whose account tax deduction has been made. The fee imposed u/s 234E is for all intents and purposes a late fee payable for accepting the TDS/Statement/Return at a belated point in time. Thus, the appeal of the assessee is dismissed.

In result, the appeal of the assessee is dismissed.