PCIT Vs Wipro Limited (Supreme Court of India)
Summary: The Supreme Court allowed the Revenue’s appeal against the judgment of the Karnataka High Court and held that both conditions prescribed under Section 10B(8) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for opting out of the Section 10B benefit are mandatory. The assessee, a 100% export-oriented unit engaged in running a call centre and providing IT Enabled and Remote Processing Services, had filed its return for Assessment Year 2001-02 on 31.10.2001 declaring a loss of Rs.15,47,76,990 and claiming exemption under Section 10B. A note accompanying the original return stated that the assessee was entitled to Section 10B exemption and therefore no loss was being carried forward.
Thereafter, on 24.10.2002, the assessee submitted a declaration to the Assessing Officer stating that it did not want to avail the benefit under Section 10B for AY 2001-02 in terms of Section 10B(8). It subsequently filed a revised return on 23.12.2002, withdrawing the Section 10B claim and seeking carry forward of losses under Section 72. The Assessing Officer rejected the withdrawal of the Section 10B claim on the ground that the declaration had not been furnished before the due date for filing the return, which was 31.10.2001, and consequently denied the carry forward of losses. The CIT(A) upheld the Assessing Officer’s decision.
