Waghodia Urban Co. Op. Bank Limited Vs Director of Income Tax ( I & CI) (ITAT Ahmedabad)
In the case of Waghodia Urban Co. Op. Bank Limited vs. Director of Income Tax (I & CI) (ITAT Ahmedabad), the main issue at hand pertains to the penalty levied under Section 271FA of the Income Tax Act, 1961, due to a delay in filing the statement of financial transaction (SFT-005) for the Assessment Year 2019-20.
The appeal was filed by the assessee against the order passed by the Addl/JDIT (I&CI), Ahmedabad, dated 27.07.2023. The assessee contested the penalty, amounting to Rs. 7,40,000/-, with the following grounds of appeal: firstly, disputing the correctness of the penalty levied, and secondly, seeking the deletion of the penalty.
The Waghodia Urban Co-op. Bank Limited, referred to as the Reporting Entity (RE), failed to file the SFT-005 for the A.Y. 2019-20 by the due date of 31.05.2019. Subsequently, a notice under Section 285BA(5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 was issued on 26.04.2022, directing the assessee to file the SFT-001 and SFT-005 by 11.05.2022. However, the RE only filed the statement on 29.11.2022, citing technical issues with the server as the reason for the delay.
Upon receiving the notice under Section 274 read with Section 271FA of the Act, the assessee submitted that the SFT-005 data was not generated by the system at the time of filing the return. Consequently, the Assessing Officer levied a penalty totaling Rs. 7,40,000/-.
