Dr. Sanghmitra Dasgupta Vs ITO (ITAT Bangalore)
Bengaluru ITAT: Delay in Filing Appeal Condoned; Foreign Tax Credit Cannot Be Denied on Mere Technical Grounds if Form 67 Was Filed in Time
The Bengaluru Bench of the ITAT held that Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) claimed under section 90 cannot be denied merely on technical or procedural grounds where the assessee had filed Form No. 67 within the prescribed due date and had disclosed the foreign income and corresponding tax credit in the return of income. The Tribunal observed that tax cannot be collected except by authority of law, and a lawful tax credit should not be refused solely because of procedural lapses.
The assessee, a dental surgeon, had claimed credit for taxes paid in Tanzania. Although the CPC denied the FTC while processing the return under section 143(1), the assessee explained that the delay of 1,933 days in filing the appeal arose because she was unaware of the electronic procedure for filing Form No. 35 and did not know that an appeal could be preferred against an intimation issued under section 143(1). The Tribunal accepted this explanation as constituting sufficient cause, holding that the appellate authority ought to have adopted a liberal approach instead of dismissing the appeal on technical grounds.
Accordingly, the Tribunal set aside the order of the CIT(A) and restored the matter to the Assessing Officer with directions to verify Form No. 67, the Tanzanian tax deduction certificate, the DTAA entitlement, and the corresponding foreign income offered to tax. If the claim is found to be in accordance with law, the Assessing Officer was directed to grant the Foreign Tax Credit. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT BANGALORE
1. This appeal is filed by Dr. Sanghmitra Dasgupta against the appellate order passed by the Joint Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals), Thiruvananthapuram [NFAC], for assessment year 2018-19 on 29 September 2025. By that order, the appeal filed by the assessee against the intimation issued under section 143(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, by the Central Processing Centre, Bengaluru, on 3 September 2019, was dismissed on the ground that it was filed with a delay of 1,933 days.
