Refund payable to deductee cannot be set-off against TDS not deposited by deductor

Sanjay Sudan Vs ACIT (Delhi High Court)

Delhi High Court held that deductee/ assessee cannot be called upon to pay tax, which is already deducted from his income as TDS. TDS not deposited by deductor cannot be set-off against refund amount payable to deductee.

Facts- The petitioner was an employee of Kingfisher. The employer had deducted TDS on salary of Rs. 13,98,901/-. The same was reflected in Form 16A. However, out of the said deducted TDS, employer didn’t deposited Rs. 11,62,580/-.

Notably, refund payable to the petitioner was not paid to him and the same was set-off against the said demand. The said action is challenged by the petitioner.

Conclusion- Section 205 read with instruction dated 01.06.2015, clearly point in the direction that the deductee/assessee cannot be called upon to pay tax, which has been deducted at source from his income.

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