Bansal Corelam Pvt. Ltd Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi)
The Delhi Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal considered whether the assessee was entitled to opt for the concessional tax regime under Section 115BAA of the Income-tax Act despite filing Form 10-IC after the due date prescribed under Section 139(1). The assessee, a private limited company, had filed its return of income for AY 2021-22 belatedly on 30.03.2022 after the extended due date of 15.03.2022. Although the assessee had opted for taxation under Section 115BAA in its return and declared total income accordingly, Form 10-IC was filed on 17.03.2022, beyond the extended due date under Section 139(1) but before filing the return under Section 139(4). While processing the return under Section 143(1), the CPC denied the concessional tax benefit on the ground that Form 10-IC had not been filed within the prescribed time, and the NFAC upheld this view.
The Tribunal observed that the assessee’s intention to be governed by the new tax regime had been clearly disclosed in its tax audit report. It held that although filing Form 10-IC is a statutory requirement, the timing requirement should be treated as directory rather than mandatory in the facts of the case. The Tribunal relied upon the decision of the Ahmedabad Bench in Aprameya Engineering Ltd. v. ITO, which had distinguished the Supreme Court ruling in Wipro Ltd. on the ground that the factual and statutory contexts were different. The Tribunal noted that the benefit under Section 115BAA was claimed from the outset and that the delayed filing of Form 10-IC was merely a procedural lapse.
