Ram Refrigeration & Electronics Pvt. Ltd Vs ITO (ITAT Pune)
In a significant ruling for taxpayers, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Pune Bench has declared that the levy of late fees under Section 234E of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for belatedly furnished TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) returns is invalid if the returns were processed prior to June 1, 2015. This decision, stemming from a batch of four appeals filed by Ram Refrigeration & Electronics Pvt. Ltd. against orders from the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)/NFAC, Delhi, provides relief to numerous assessees who faced such penalties for earlier assessment years.
The appeals, all dated January 30, 2025, originated from orders passed under Section 154 of the Income Tax Act, concerning various quarterly TDS returns processed by the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) for the Financial Year 2012-13 (Assessment Year 2013-14). Given the commonality of the issue—the levy of late fees under Section 234E for belated TDS quarterly statements—the ITAT heard these appeals together and issued a unified order.
Assessee’s Core Argument:
The central argument presented by the learned counsel for Ram Refrigeration & Electronics Pvt. Ltd. was that the TDS quarterly returns in question, pertaining to FY 2012-13, were filed and processed before June 1, 2015. This date is crucial because it marks the effective date of an amendment introduced by the Finance Act, 2015, in Section 200A(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act. Prior to this amendment, there was no specific mechanism within Section 200A for the CPC to levy late fees under Section 234E during the processing of TDS statements.
