Uttamkumar Tukaram Patil Vs ITO (ITAT Pune)
In a notable decision impacting taxpayers with foreign income, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Pune Bench, has ruled that a delay in filing the requisite Form 67 should not be the sole basis for denying a claim for Foreign Tax Credit (FTC). The Tribunal’s ruling came in the case of Uttamkumar Tukaram Patil challenging the disallowance of FTC by the tax authorities for the assessment year 2019-20.
The dispute originated when the taxpayer’s income tax return was processed under Section 143(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. During this automated processing, the Foreign Tax Credit claim of ₹8,60,645 was disallowed. The primary reason cited for the denial was the delayed submission of Form 67, a statutory form that provides details and certification necessary to claim FTC under India’s tax laws and tax treaties.
Aggrieved by the processing outcome, the taxpayer pursued the matter through the appellate channels. An appeal was filed before the Addl. JCIT(A) in Jodhpur. However, this appeal faced a significant delay in filing, approximately two years and six months beyond the prescribed time limit. The taxpayer explained to the appellate authority that notices regarding the intimation and demand were received electronically but did not come to his notice until a physical notice of demand was received in the last week of October 2023. Despite this explanation, the CIT(A) did not condone the delay and dismissed the appeal without delving into the merits of the FTC claim itself.
