Jivanbhai Somabhai Patel Vs DCIT (ITAT Ahmedabad)
In Jivanbhai Somabhai Patel vs DCIT, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Ahmedabad Bench, considered whether a commission agent is entitled to claim TDS credit when the underlying income belongs to third parties, namely agriculturist farmers.
The assessee filed a return for A.Y. 2022–23 declaring total income of Rs. 5,26,460 and claimed TDS credit of Rs. 1,47,522. However, while processing the return under Section 143(1), the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) allowed only Rs. 5,777 as TDS credit. The assessee appealed before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), who partly allowed the appeal. The present appeal before the Tribunal involved a delay of 204 days, which was condoned after considering the reasons as genuine.
The assessee contended that TDS credit of Rs. 52,663 under Section 194Q had been wrongly denied. It was argued that the assessee acted as an APMC-registered commission agent (Adatiya), facilitating the sale of agricultural produce belonging to farmers to traders in auction markets. The assessee relied on CBIC Circular No. 13 of 2021 dated 30th June, 2021 and argued that denial of TDS credit resulted in unjust enrichment by the department.
The Revenue relied on the processing order under Section 143(1) and the findings of the CIT(A).
