Chola Business Services Ltd. Vs ITO (ITAT Chennai)
In the case of Chola Business Services Ltd. vs. Income Tax Officer (ITO), the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Chennai ruled in favor of the assessee, Chola Business Services, regarding the concessional tax rate under Section 115BAA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for the Assessment Year (AY) 2021-22. The company had filed its return of income declaring a total income of ₹55,49,770 and a refund claim of ₹4,25,390. However, the Centralized Processing Center (CPC), Bengaluru, issued an intimation under Section 143(1) of the Act, calculating the tax at 30%, rather than the 22% concessional rate that the assessee had opted for. The company had filed Form 10IC on 15.12.2020, in compliance with the requirements to avail the concessional rate.
Despite this, the CPC computed the tax at the regular rate of 30%, and the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) upheld this decision, stating that the company had not opted for the concessional tax rate. However, the ITAT found that the CPC’s intimation itself acknowledged the company’s election for the concessional rate. The tribunal noted that the filing of Form 10IC and its acknowledgment by CPC confirmed the company’s eligibility for the concessional tax rate under Section 115BAA. Therefore, the ITAT set aside the CIT(A)’s order and directed the Assessing Officer to compute the tax at the concessional rate, as initially claimed by the company. The appeal was consequently allowed.
