Associated Space Designers P Ltd, Pune V. Deputy Commissioner of Income-Tax, Circle -1(1), Pune

ITA 106/PUN/2023

AI Insights

The case involves a series of appeals by Associated Space Designers Pvt. Ltd. against the late fees imposed under section 234E of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for delays in filing TDS returns for the quarters prior to June 1, 2015. The appeals were initially dismissed by the CIT(A), leading the company to approach the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal examined the applicability of section 234E, which was amended to include the imposition of fees for late filing of TDS returns, effective from June 1, 2015. Citing precedents from the Kerala High Court, the Tribunal found that the imposition of such fees for periods prior to this date was not permissible.

• Counselvise Citation: [2023] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 132026 (ITAT-PUNE)
• Duration Of Justice: 1 month(s) 9 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 07-03-2023
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: A
• Next Hearing Date: 07-03-2023
• Assessment Year: misc
• Appeal Filed On: 26-01-2023
• Other Referred Cases: Olari Little Flower Kuries Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Union of India and others, Jiji Varghese VS. ITO(TDS) & Ors.
• Laws Referred To: Income-tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Keywords: TDS
• Section: 234E; 200A

Judgement Text

`आयकर अपील य अ धकरण “A” यायपीठ प ु णे म । IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL “A” BENCH, PUNE BEFORE SHRI R.S.SYAL, VICE PRESIDENT AND SHRI S.S.VISWANETHRA RAVI, JUDICIAL MEMBER Sl. No. ITA No(s). Name of the Applicant Name of Respondent Asst. Year Quar ter Form 1-11 103/PUN/2023 to 113/PUN/2023 Associated Space Designers Private Limited, Office No.401, Summer Court, Magarpatta City, Pune 411 013 PAN : AABCA5728R DCIT, Circle-1(1), Pune 2013-14 2013-14 2013-14 2014-15 2014-15 2014-15 2014-15 2015-16 2015-16 2015-16 2015-16 Q2 Q3 Q3 Q1 Q2 Q1 Q2 Q2 Q3 Q2 Q3 24Q 24Q 26Q 24Q 24Q 26Q 26Q 24Q 24Q 26Q 26Q Assessee by : Shri Krishna V. Gujarathi Revenue by : Shri Ramesh P. Murkunde स ु नवाई क तार ख / Date of Hearing : 08.03.2023 घोषणा क तार ख / Date of Pronouncement : 08.03.2023 आदेश / ORDER PER BENCH: This batch of 11 appeals arises from different orders passed by the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi. The only issue raised in these appeals is the charging of interest u/s.234E for the 2 ITA Nos.103 to 113/PUN/2023 Associated Space Designers Pvt. Ltd. quarters relevant to the assessment years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015- 16. 2. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the assessee is a company engaged in the profession of providing architectural services and filed the TDS returns for the respective quarters belatedly. Based on that, the Assessing Officer (AO) levied late fees u/s.234E of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter also called `the Act’). The assessee approached the ld. CIT(A) but without success. Aggrieved thereby, the assessee has approached the Tribunal. 3. We have heard both the sides and gone through the relevant material on record. The solitary issue raised in all the appeals is against the confirmation of fee u/s.234E imposed by the AO. The assessment years involved in these 11 appeals are 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, which shows that the fee u/s.234E has been imposed for the delay in furnishing the statements for quarters prior to 01-06-2015. 4. Section 200A deals with processing of statements of tax deducted at source. Clause (c) of section 200A(1) was inserted by the Finance Act 2015 w.e.f. 01-06-2015 providing for the levy of fee u/s.234E of the Act. In that view of the matter, such fee u/s.234E can be levied only for the default committed after 01-06-2015 and not prior to that. 3 ITA Nos.103 to 113/PUN/2023 Associated Space Designers Pvt. Ltd. The Hon’ble Kerala High Court in Olari Little Flower Kuries Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Union of India and others (2022) 440 ITR 26 (Kerala) has affirmed the non-imposition of fee for the period prior to 01-06-2015. Similar view has been taken in Jiji Varghese VS. ITO(TDS) & Ors. (2022) 443 ITR 267 (Ker) holding that no interest u/s 234E can be imposed for the periods of the respective A.Ys. prior to June 1, 2015. Thus, it is seen that the issue raised in these appeals is covered in favour of the assessee. Following the precedent, we overturn the impugned orders on this sole issue. 5. In the result, all the appeals are allowed. Order pronounced in the Open Court on 08 th March, 2023 Sd/- Sd/- S.S.VISWANETHRA RAVI R.S.SYAL JUDICIAL MEMBER VICE PRESIDENT प ु णे / Pune; दनांक / Dated : 08 th March, 2023 Satish 4 ITA Nos.103 to 113/PUN/2023 Associated Space Designers Pvt. Ltd. आदेश क त ल प अ े षत / Copy of the Order forwarded to : 1. अपीलाथ# / The Appellant. 2. $%यथ# / The Respondent. 3. The Pr.CIT concerned 4. &वभागीय $)त)न ध, आयकर अपील य अ धकरण, “A” ब च, प ु णे / DR, ITAT, “A” Bench, Pune. 5. गाड- फ़ाइल / Guard File. // True Copy // आदेशान ु सार / BY ORDER, // True Copy // Senior Private Secretary आयकर अपील य अ धकरण, प ु णे / ITAT, Pune. * Date 1. Draft dictated on 08-03-2023 Sr.PS 2. Draft placed before author 08-03-2023 Sr.PS 3. Draft proposed & placed before the second member JM 4. Draft discussed/approved by Second Member. JM 5. Approved Draft comes to the Sr.PS/PS Sr.PS 6. Kept for pronouncement on Sr.PS 7. Date of uploading order Sr.PS 8. File sent to the Bench Clerk Sr.PS 9. Date on which file goes to the Head Clerk 10. Date on which file goes to the A.R. 11. Date of dispatch of Order.