CIT (TDS) Vs Vodafone Cellular Ltd. (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court held that limitation under Section 201(3) for passing an order under Section 201(1) is to be computed from the end of the financial year in which the TDS statement under Section 200 is filed. Since, under Rule 31A, TDS statements are required to be filed quarterly, the limitation must necessarily be computed quarter-wise and not on a cumulative annual basis. Accordingly, where TDS statements for the first three quarters were filed in FY 2008-09, the order passed on 15 March 2012 was beyond the prescribed limitation of two years from the end of that financial year and hence time-barred, whereas the order relating to the fourth quarter was within limitation, the TDS statement having been filed in FY 2009-10. Revenue’s contention that limitation should be computed on an annual basis was rejected.
Issue involved:- The issue before the Court was whether the order passed under Section 201(1) declaring the assessee as an assessee-in-default was barred by limitation under Section 201(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and specifically whether limitation should be computed quarter-wise based on the filing of TDS statements or cumulatively on an annual basis.
