Case Law Details
M/s. Vodafone Idea Limited Vs DCIT (TDS) (Bombay High Court)
High Court held that Income Tax Refund cannot be withheld by Income Tax Department for error in Computer System. It held that the computer system cannot override the factual aspects and if Income Tax refund is payable than whether the computer systems accepts or not, is of no consequence.
Upon perusal of the communication it would appear that due to human error, the Petitioner had shown payment to HSBC under old as well as new TAN giving rise to TDS mismatch. The Assessing Officer himself agrees that this is an error and the demand should be deleted from the system. Despite this communication from the Assessing Officer, the computer system of the department has not taken steps to delete the demand. As a result of which, the Petitioner’s sizable tax refund in access of Rs.21 Crores is held up.
Facts being clear, in our opinion, the department cannot withhold the refund of the Petitioner. Firstly, the computer system cannot override the factual aspects. If the refund is payable, whether the computer systems accepts or not, is of no consequence. More importantly, in the present case, according to the department itself, the error had to be rectified. Had this be done timely, there would have been no delay in releasing the Petitioner’s refund.
FULL TEXT OF THE HIGH COURT ORDER / JUDGMENT
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
