Dhananjay Gajanan Vidwans Vs ITO (ITAT Pune)
Pune ITAT Restores Foreign Tax Credit Claim After Holding Incorrect Disclosure in Form 67 Should Not Defeat Genuine FTC Entitlement
The Pune ITAT held that the assessee’s claim for Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) of ₹15.73 lakh under section 90 could not be rejected merely because the tax paid outside India was disclosed in an incorrect column of Form No. 67. The Tribunal noted that the assessee had timely filed Form 67 along with the return of income and was entitled to relief under Article 16 of the India–USA DTAA in respect of salary income earned in the USA. It further observed that the FTC claim was supported by evidence showing that foreign tax of ₹62.63 lakh had been deducted by the US employer, and the assessee had also furnished a revised Form 67 rectifying the reporting error. Holding that the denial of FTC by the CPC and its confirmation by the appellate authority was based solely on a technical defect in Form 67, the Tribunal set aside the impugned order and restored the matter to the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer for verification, directing that the Foreign Tax Credit be granted in accordance with law if the claim is found to be genuine.
