Nanasaheb Bhagawan Sasar Vs ITO (ITAT Pune)
Joint Property Sale: ITAT Rules Entire TDS in Assessee’s Name Must Be Allowed- Buyer’s Error in Deducting Full TDS – Revenue Cannot Enrich Itself- Deductee Cannot Suffer for Deductor’s Mistake
Assessee, an individual, jointly sold ancestral land with his son Amit Sasar for ₹13 crore, receiving ₹6.5 crore each. However, the buyer deducted entire TDS of ₹13,00,000 u/s 194A in the name of the Assessee alone. Accordingly, Form 26AS reflected the whole TDS against his PAN. While filing return, Assessee declared capital gains on his share of ₹6.5 crore & claimed full TDS of ₹13 lakh. His son declared his half share in his own return but did not claim any TDS credit.
CPC while processing u/s 143(1) denied half of the TDS credit, restricting it to ₹6.5 lakh, & levied interest u/s 234A/B/C. A rectification petition u/s 154 claiming full credit was also rejected. On appeal, Addl/JCIT(A) upheld CPC’s action holding that only proportionate TDS credit is allowable since only half share of sale consideration was disclosed in Assessee’s return.
Before Tribunal, Assessee relied on Section 199 r.w. Rule 37BA & CBDT Instruction No.5/2013, submitting that once TDS is deducted in his name & reflected in Form 26AS, full credit must be granted. It was argued that his son had already paid tax on his half share without claiming any TDS, hence Revenue could not enrich itself at the cost of Assessee. Reliance was placed on Pune ITAT decision in Anil Ratanlal Bohora Vs ACIT & Bangalore ITAT decision in iGate Infrastructure Management Services Ltd. Vs DCIT, holding that deductee should not suffer for deductor’s error.
