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Facts
The assessee, an undertaking owned by the Government of Odisha, incurred substantial losses and did not pay interest on loans from the Government. The AO disallowed this interest under Section 43B of the Act, and subsequently levied a penalty under Section 270A. The CIT(A) confirmed the penalty. The assessee appealed the penalty order.
Held
The Tribunal held that Section 43B of the Act is not applicable to interest on Government loans, as per the Allahabad High Court ruling in UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited. Since the disallowance itself was not sustainable, the penalty levied as a consequence of this disallowance was also not sustainable.
Key Issues
Whether the penalty under section 270A is leviable when the underlying disallowance under section 43B for interest on government loans is unsustainable?
Sections Cited
43B, 270A
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, CUTTACK BENCH CUTTACK
Before: SHRI GEORGE MATHAN & SHRI RAJESH KUMAR
O R D E R Per Bench : These two appeals are filed by the assessee against the separate orders passed by the ld. CIT(A), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi, both dated 17.07.2025 for the assessment years 2018-2019 & 2022- 2023.
It was submitted by the ld. AR that the assessee is an undertaking owned by the Government of Odisha. Certain loans were given by the Government to the assessee. As the asseesee was incurring substantial losses, the interest had not been paid to the Government. It was the submission that in the course of assessment the AO disallowed the interest shown to be due to the Government by applying the provision for section 43B of the Act. It was the submission that the interest payable to the Government was not hit by the provisions of section 43B of the Act. It was & 516/CTK/2025 the submission that the assessee, admittedly, did not file any appeal against the assessment orders. It was the submission that the penalty under section 270A of the Act had been levied on the assessee on account of the said disallowance. It was the submission that, on appeal against the order under section 270A of the Act, the ld. CIT(A) without considering the submissions of the assessee, has confirmed the penalty levied. It was the submission that as the disallowance made by the AO itself was unsustainable, in so far as the provisions of section 43B of the Act did not apply to the interest payable to the government, tThe penalty under section 270A of the Act was not called for.
In reply the ld. CIT. DR vehemently supported the order of the AO and CIT(A).
We have considered the rival submissions. A perusal of the decision of the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in the case of UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, reported in [2013] 37 taxmann.com 164 (Allahabad) clearly shows that the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court has categorically held that the provision of section 43B of the Act is not applicable to the interest on Government loans. Once it is found that the provision of section 43B of the Act does not apply to the interest on Government loans, just because the assessee has accepted the disallowance made by the AO, would not lead to an automatic levy of penalty under section 270A of the Act. The fact that the addition itself is not called for, it is evident from the fact that the AO also recognizes that the interest disallowed by invoking the provisions of section 43B of the Act, was interest payable to the government of Odisha.