Rejection of application by AO for lower or nil withholding is an ‘order’ eligible for revision by CIT

Court: Bombay High Court

Citation: Larsen & Toubro Ltd. & Anr. Vs. ACIT [2010-TIOL-304-HC-MUM-IT]

Brief   : The Bombay High Court held that expression “order” for the purposes of section 264 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the Act) has a wide connotation. The words used under section 264(1) of the Act are ‘any order other than order under section 263’. Hence, the rejection of an application by the Assessing Officer (AO) for lower withholding rate under section 197 (See Note-1 Below) of the act is an ‘order’ eligible for revision by the Commissioner of Income-tax (CIT) under section 264 of the Act.

Further, the compliance of Rule 28AA (See Note-2 Below)  of the Income-tax rules, 1962 (the Rules) is not an eligibility criteria for making an application under section 197   of the Act. The High Court observed that if the financial statements of the taxpayer in the previous three years were not available, the lower withholding rate had to be computed as per Rules 28AA(i) of the Rules.

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