Mukesh Garg Vs ACIT (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court has directed the tax authorities to process a refund claim for Assessment Year (AY) 2016-17, ruling that a refund cannot be denied due to a Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) mismatch if the assessee filed a revised return within the stipulated time and the revenue failed to either reject it or communicate any defects. The court’s decision hinged on the absence of any official communication or record from the tax department indicating that the revised return was deemed invalid.
The petitioner, Mukesh Garg, sought a refund of ₹1,16,94,870/- for excess tax paid. He had initially filed his return on August 26, 2016, declaring an income of ₹2,39,05,340/- and claiming the refund after accounting for advance tax and TDS.
Deficiency Notice and Revised Return
On August 10, 2017, the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC), Bangalore, issued a notice under Section 139(9) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, pointing out a defect: the TDS claimed did not match the income offered. The petitioner was given 15 days to rectify this. Mukesh Garg filed a rectified return on August 16, 2017, within the given timeframe, re-asserting his refund claim.
However, the petitioner received no further communication from the revenue regarding his revised return or refund claim. The processing period for the return expired on March 31, 2018, but the status remained “under process.” The revenue’s stance was that since the original return was defective and the defects allegedly not cured, it was not processed, and thus, no refund was granted.
