Sanmoy Ray Vs ITO (ITAT Kolkata)
ITAT Kolkata held that Foreign Tax Credit cannot be denied for delayed filing of Form No. 67 since the provision of DTAA override the provision of Section 90 of the Act and also filing it is directory requirement and not mandatory requirement. Accordingly, appeal allowed.
Facts- In this case, the assessee filed return of income on 16.07.2023, which was processed u/s 143(1) of the Act and Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) was denied by the AO-CPC. Addl./JCIT(A) also dismissed the appeal on the ground that the FTC in Form 67 was not filed within the due date for filing of return of income. Being aggrieved, the present appeal is filed.
Conclusion- Since the provision of DTAA override the provision of Section 90 of the Act as they are more beneficial to the assessee, in view of judicial pronouncements in this regard and since Rule 128(a) does not preclude the assessee from claiming credit for FTC in case of delay in filing the required Form No. 67 as the credit for FTC is a vested right of the assessee and since Form No. 67 was filed along with the return of income and was available at the time of processing the return of income u/s 143(1)(a) of the Act as contended by the assessee, therefore, there was no justification for not allowing the credit for FTC. Hence, respectful following the decisions cited in preceding paragraphs, the claim for FTC is directed to be allowed as the assessee had filed the required Form No. 67 as evidence of foreign taxes paid and the Ld. AO is directed to allow the FTC in accordance with DTAA.
