Loading judgment…
No AI summary yet for this case.
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, NAGPUR BENCH
Before: SHRI R.S.SYAL & SHRI S.S.VISWANETHRA RAVI
आदेश / ORDER
PER R.S.SYAL, VP:
This batch of 7 appeals arises from different orders passed by the
National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi on 19-10-2022. The
only issue raised in these appeals is against the charging of interest
u/s.234E for different quarters of the assessment years 2013-14 &
2014-15.
Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the assessee is a firm
and filed the TDS returns for the respective quarters belatedly. Based
2 ITA Nos.410 to 416/Nag/2022 M/s. Kurup Engineering Pvt. Ltd.
on that, the Assessing Officer (AO) levied late fees u/s.234E of the
Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter also called `the Act’). The assessee
approached the ld. CIT(A) but without success. Aggrieved thereby, the
assessee has approached the Tribunal.
We have heard both the sides and gone through the relevant
material on record. The solitary issue raised in all the appeals is
against the confirmation of fee u/s.234E imposed by the AO. The
assessment years involved in these 7 appeals are 2013-14 & 2014-15,
which shows that the fee u/s.234E has been imposed for the delay in
furnishing the statements for quarters prior to 01-06-2015.
Section 200A deals with processing of statements of tax deducted
at source. Clause (c) of section 200A(1) was inserted by the Finance
Act 2015 w.e.f. 01-06-2015 providing for the levy of fee u/s.234E of
the Act. In that view of the matter, such fee u/s.234E can be levied
only for the default committed after 01-06-2015 and not prior to that.
The Hon’ble Kerala High Court in Olari Little Flower Kuries Pvt. Ltd.
Vs. Union of India and others (2022) 440 ITR 26 (Kerala) has affirmed
the non-imposition of fee for the period prior to 01-06-2015. Similar
view has been taken in Jiji Varghese VS. ITO(TDS) & Ors. (2022) 443
ITR 267 (Ker) holding that no interest u/s 234E can be imposed for the
3 ITA Nos.410 to 416/Nag/2022 M/s. Kurup Engineering Pvt. Ltd.
periods of the respective A.Ys. prior to June 1, 2015. Thus, it is seen
that the issue raised in these appeals is covered in favour of the
assessee. Following the precedent, we overturn the impugned orders
on this sole issue.
In the result, all the appeals are allowed.
Order pronounced in the Open Court on 25th July, 2023.
Sd/- Sd/- (S.S. VISWANETHRA RAVI) (R.S.SYAL) JUDICIAL MEMBER VICE PRESIDENT
पुणे / Pune; �दनांक / Dated : 25th July, 2023 Satish
आदेश क� ��त�ल�प अ�े�षत / Copy of the Order forwarded to : अपीलाथ� / The Appellant. 1. ��यथ� / The Respondent. 2. 3. The concerned CIT. �वभागीय �!त!न"ध, आयकर अपील�य अ"धकरण, “नागपुर” ब&च, 4. / DR, ITAT, “Nagpur” Bench गाड) फ़ाइल / Guard File. 5. // True Copy // आदेशानुसार / BY ORDER, // True Copy // Senior Private Secretary आयकर अपील�य अ"धकरण, पुणे / ITAT, Pune
4 ITA Nos.410 to 416/Nag/2022 M/s. Kurup Engineering Pvt. Ltd.
Date 1. Draft dictated on 24-07-2023 Sr.PS 2. Draft placed before author 25-07-2023 Sr.PS 3. Draft proposed & placed JM before the second member 4. Draft discussed/approved JM by Second Member. 5. Approved Draft comes to Sr.PS the Sr.PS/PS 6. Kept for pronouncement on Sr.PS 7. Date of uploading order Sr.PS 8. File sent to the Bench Clerk Sr.PS 9. Date on which file goes to the Head Clerk 10. Date on which file goes to the A.R. 11. Date of dispatch of Order. *