Sanjay Sharma Vs Addl./JCIT (ITAT Delhi)
A Wrong Tick Cannot Inflate the Tax Bill: New Regime Allowed Where Computation Clearly Reflected Assessee’s Choice
The Delhi Bench of the ITAT has held that an assessee cannot be burdened with a higher tax liability merely because the accountant committed a clerical error while selecting the tax regime in the income-tax return. Where the tax computation forming part of the return was prepared under the new tax regime u/s 115BAC, but the return incorrectly indicated that the assessee had opted for the old regime, the tax liability had to be recomputed under the new regime in accordance with the assessee’s evident intention.
The appeal was filed by Mr. Sanjay Sharma as the legal heir of Late Divya Kala Sharma. The dispute arose from an order passed by the CPC, Bengaluru, u/s 154 for AY 2024-25 and the subsequent appellate order dated 26-03-2026.
Although several grounds were raised before the Tribunal, the only effective issue was whether the assessee was entitled to have her income and tax liability computed under the new tax regime u/s 115BAC.
In the return of income filed for AY 2024-25, the assessee’s accountant had prepared the tax computation by applying the rates and provisions of the new tax regime. However, while uploading the return in ITR-1, the accountant incorrectly mentioned that the assessee had chosen the old tax regime.
