Sonu Marketing Private Limited Vs Union of India And Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court disposed of a writ petition concerning the issuance of Form 5 under the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, 2020 for Assessment Year (AY) 2015-16. The dispute arose because, although the petitioner had paid the disputed tax determined in Form 3 for both AYs 2014-15 and 2015-16 within the prescribed time, the payment for AY 2015-16 was erroneously clubbed with the payment for AY 2014-15 due to a technical error in the Income Tax Business Application Portal. As a result, Form 5 was issued only for AY 2014-15.
The petitioner contended that once payment had been made in accordance with Form 3, the designated authority was under a statutory obligation to issue Form 5 and that the failure to do so was contrary to the Scheme. The respondents admitted that declarations had been filed for both assessment years, payments had been made as determined in Form 3, and the non-issuance of Form 5 for AY 2015-16 resulted solely from a technical error on the portal. The Department also stated that it had no objection to rectifying the error and issuing Form 5 after verification of the payment challan.
