Case Law Details
Ms. Haryana Distillery Limited Vs JCIT, TDS (ITAT Delhi)
Section 272A(2)(k) of the I.T. Act provides penalty for failure to deliver or cause to deliver a copy of the statement within the time specified in sub-section (3) of Section 200 or the proviso to sub-section 3 of Section 206(c) of the I.T. Act. Section 273B of the I.T. Act provides that no penalty shall be imposed on the person or the assessee as the case may be for any failure referred to in the said provision, if assessee proves that there was a reasonable cause for the said failure. It is an admitted fact that assessee deducted tax on time and deposited with the Revenue Department on time. There was only a technical or venial breach to the provisions contained above, requiring the assessee to submit the quarterly return statements of tax deducted at source within the time provided under the Law. It is not a case of the Revenue that assessee did not file the required statements with the Revenue Department. The requisite statement/returns have been filed belatedly, for which, penalty have been imposed. The assessee explained the reasons for this default because the concerned parties did not provide PAN and other details on time. Therefore, in the absence of the complete details, the requisite return/statement could not be filed on time. The assessee also pleaded that Manager, Accounts of the Company was on leave due to serious illness, therefore, there was no compliance on the part of the assessee within the time. The above facts clearly prove that the statement/returns to be furnished by the assessee within the time were entirely depending upon the information to be supplied by the purchasers. The assessee explained that the purchaser/licensee being small operator did not obtain PAN, therefore, particulars could not be filed in time. This was the reason for not filing the return/statement within the period of limitation. Further, the Manager, Accounts was ill, therefore, there was delay in making compliance. These facts clearly show that assessee had a reasonable cause for failure to comply with the provisions of Law. On filing the belated returns/statements, Revenue has not suffered any loss because tax deducted was already deposited on time with the Revenue Department. It was, therefore, a technical or venial breach to the provisions contained in the Act for submitting return statement of tax deducted at source. The above reasons are sufficient to hold that the penalty need not be levied in the facts and circumstances of the case.
FULL TEXT OF THE ITAT ORDER IS AS FOLLOWS:-
Both the appeals by the assessee are directed against the common Order of the Ld. CIT(A), Panchkula, Dated 19.01.2015, for the A.Ys. 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, challenging the levy of penalty under section 272A(2)(k) of the I.T. Act, 1961.
2. Briefly the facts of the case are that as per information available with the Department, the person responsible in the instant case has deducted and deposited TDS/TCS but failed to file the requisite return within the stipulated period. The due date of filing of e-TDS return in Form-24Q for F.Y. 2009-2010 was 15.06.2010 whereas return was filed on 06.07.2010. The due dates of filing of TCS returns in Form 27EQ were 15.07.2009, 15.10.2009, 15.01.2010 and 15.06.2010 for F.Ys. 2009-2010 and 15.07.2010, 15.10.2010, 15.01.2011 and 15.05.2011 for F.Y. 2010-2011 respectively. Total delay in filing e-TDS return was 21 days for Form 24Q and 689, 599, 509 and 359 days for Form 27EQ for first to fourth quarter for F.Y. 2009-2010 and 371, 276, 186, 66 days for first to fourth quarter for F.Y. 2010-2011. The A.O. accordingly levied the penalty under section 272A(2)(k) of the I.T. Act, 1961.
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