PRINCIPAL COMMISIONER OF INCOME TAX 7 vs. UNITECH ACACIA PROJECTS PVT. LTD
What did the High Court hold?
The ITAT upheld the CIT(A)'s decision to delete the penalties, finding that the non-deduction of TDS was a technical breach and the issue of interest on delayed TDS was debatable. The High Court found no reason to interfere with the ITAT's order.
What were the facts?
The Revenue appealed against the ITAT's order upholding the deletion of penalties imposed on the assessee under Section 271(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act. The penalties were related to the non-deduction of TDS and interest on late payment of TDS.
What were the issues?
Whether penalties under Section 271(1)(c) can be levied for non-deduction of TDS and for interest on delayed TDS when the issues are considered technical or debatable.
Which sections of the Income-tax Act were involved?
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
$~33 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + ITA 777/2023 & CM APPL. 65410/2023 (74 Days Delay)
PRINCIPAL COMMISIONER OF INCOME TAX 7
..... Appellant Through: Mr. Aseem Chawla, SSC with Ms. Pratishtha Chaudhary & Mr. Naveen Rohila, Advs.
versus
UNITECH ACACIA PROJECTS PVT. LTD ..... Respondent
Through: None
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE YASHWANT VARMA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV
15.03.2024 O R D E R
This appeal is directed against the order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal [“ITAT”] dated 29 March 2023 and which has in turn upheld the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [“CIT(A)”] deleting penalties which had come to be imposed upon the assessee under Section 271(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [“Act”]. 2. The ITAT upon noticing the rival submissions addressed has observed as follows: “7. We have heard the learned DR and perused the material available on record. In the present appeal the grounds raised by Revenue is with respect to the deletion of penalty levied for furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income. We find that CIT(A) while deleting the penalty has noted that non-deduction of tax was neither an act of furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income nor concealment of income but rather it was a technical and venial breach in nature. As far as the levy of penalty on interest on late payment of TDS is concerned, while deleting the This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 21/03/2024 at 12:18:23
penalty CIT(A) has given a finding that interest expense on TDS is a debatable issue and assessee had established its bonafide for the purpose of claiming deduction of expenditure on interest on delayed deposit of TDS. He relying on the decisions cited in his order held that penalty cannot not be levied on a debatable issue. Before us, Revenue has not pointed out any fallacy in the findings of CIT(A). In such a situation, we find no reason to interfere with the order of CIT(A). Thus the ground of Revenue dismissed.”
It becomes pertinent to note that in the facts of the present case the disallowances came to be made by virtue of Section 40(a)(ia) of the Act in the course of assessment. Although there was thus no justification to invoke Section 271(1)(c) of the Act, the appellant do not appear to have in the alternative rested their case for imposition of a penalty referable to Section 271C of the Act. 4. In that view of the matter, we find no justification to interfere with the order impugned. No substantial question of law arises. The appeal fails and shall stand dismissed along with pending application.
YASHWANT VARMA, J.
PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J. MARCH 15, 2024/kk This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 21/03/2024 at 12:18:23
More judgments on Section 271(1)(c)
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- Neo Structo Construction P. Ltd., Ahmedabad vs The Pr. CIT- 3, AhmedabadITA 1216/AHD/2026[2015-2016]Status: Disposed16 Oct 2026AY 2015-2016
- Hetal Vinodchandra Sheth, Ahmedabad vs The ITO, Ward-5(3)(1), AhmedabadITA 2370/AHD/2025[2014-15]Status: Disposed16 Oct 2026AY 2014-15
- Hetal Vinodchandra Sheth, Ahmedabad vs The ITO, Ward-5(3)(1), AhmedabadITA 2369/AHD/2025[2014-15]Status: Disposed16 Oct 2026AY 2014-15
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