St. Joseph Educational Society Vs ITO (ITAT Chandigarh)
NIL Income, but Not a NIL Default—ITR-V Sleeping for 5½ Years Invites Penalty u/s 272A(2)(e); Section 273B Offers No Rescue
The Return Was Filed, but Not Verified
St. Joseph Educational Society challenged the penalty of ₹2,06,200 levied u/s 272A(2)(e) for failure to furnish its return of income within the prescribed time.
The Assessee had electronically filed its return for AY 2015-16 on 29.10.2015 under PAN AAMAS8435Q, declaring NIL income. However, the return was not electronically verified & the signed physical ITR-V was not submitted to CPC within the stipulated period.
The ITR-V was ultimately received by CPC only on 28.03.2022, nearly 5½ years later. Consequently, the original return was treated as invalid. CPC informed the Assessee that it would remain invalid unless an application for condonation of delay was filed & accepted by the competent authority.
Thus, though the return had entered the system in 2015, it had never acquired legal validity because the verification completing the filing process arrived several years late.
Two PANs Add Another Layer
The Assessee was found to possess two PANs—AAMAS8435Q & AACAS3273Q. Information concerning cash deposits in a bank account was associated with the latter PAN. Since no return was found under that PAN, notice u/s 148 was issued & reassessment proceedings commenced.
