Rajesh Suresh Vernekar Vs ITO (ITAT Bangalore)
ITAT Bangalore held that penalty under section 271F of the Income Tax Act leviable as assessee being a habitual defaulter filed income tax return for four years filed belatedly
Facts- The assessee filed his return of income for AY 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 belatedly under section 139(4). The said returns filed were processed u/s. 143(1) of the Act. Accordingly, the AO noted that the assessee has committed default by filling his income tax return as per section 139(1) and filled return as per section 139(4) of the Act. Therefore, the penalty proceeding u/s. 271F of the Act was initiated vide notice dated 10.10.2017 u/s. 274 r.w.s. 271F of the Act. AO passed order well within time allowed as per the provisions of the Act on 30.11.2017.
Being aggrieved, the assessee filed appeal before the CIT(A) and the CIT(A) decided the issue and passed the consolidated order on 15.03.2018. Being aggrieved, the assessee filed appeal before the Tribunal.
Conclusion- Held that in all the 4 years, the income of the assessee was above the taxable limit and he was required to file IT returns within the due date as prescribed under section 139(1) of the Act but we noted that in all the 4 years, as noted supra, in any of the 4 Assessment Years, the assessee did not file his return within the due date. The impugned defaults can only be considered as a conscious disregard of once statutory obligations, and the penalty stands rightly levied as the assessee is a habitual defaulter.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT BANGALORE
These four penalty appeals filed by the assessee against the separate orders passed by the CIT(A) dated 18.08.2022 confirming the penalty order passed by the AO (Assessing Officer) under section 271F of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter called ‘the Act’), for belated filing of income tax return under section 139(4) of the Act.
2. This is the second round of proceedings before the Tribunal. The sole issue involved in all these appeals is regarding challenging the penalty imposed by the AO under section 274F of the Act .
3. The brief facts of the case are that the assessee filed his return of income for all the assessment years as per section 139(4) of the Act. The details of the income tax filed are as under:
