Global Television Services Pty Ltd, Australia V. ITO, Ward-1(3)(2), New Delhi

ITA 1612/DEL/2022

AI Insights

The case involves Global Television Services Pty Ltd., an Australian company, which appealed against the order of the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) - Delhi-42. The appeal was initially dismissed by the CIT(A) due to being filed late, attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and issues with the digital signature of a foreign director. The assessee had not filed a return of income in India despite receiving remittance after TDS deduction, leading to an assessment order under sections 144 and 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, treating the remittance as taxable. The Tribunal found the delay in filing the appeal justifiable under the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic and restored the case to the CIT(A) for a substantive hearing.

• Counselvise Citation: [2023] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 130766 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 1 year(s) 1 month(s) 3 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 17-08-2023
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: PartlyAllowed
• Bench Allotted: B
• Next Hearing Date: 09-08-2023
• Assessment Year: 2012-2013
• Appeal Filed On: 14-07-2022
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Keywords: Condonation of delay; TDS
• Section: 147; 144

Judgement Text

Page 1 of 5 IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH ‘B’: NEW DELHI BEFORE, SHRI N. K.BILLAIYA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND SHRI YOGESH KUMAR U.S., JUDICIAL MEMBER ITA No.1612/Del/2022 (ASSESSMENT YEAR 2012-13) M/s Global Television Services Pty Limited PO Box 207, Alexandria NSW-1435 New South Wales Australia PAN-AADCG 7286J Vs. Income Tax Officer Ward-1(3)(2) New Delhi (Appellant) (Respondent) Appellant by Mr. Gaurav Kabra, CA Respondent by Mr. Vivek Kumar Upadhyay, Sr. DR Date of Hearing 10/08/2023 Date of Pronouncement 18/08/2023 ORDER PER YOGESH KUMAR U.S., JM: This appeal by Assessee is filed against the order of Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-Delhi-42 [“Ld. CIT(A)”, for short], dated 26/05/2022 for Assessment Year 2012-13. Grounds taken in this appeal are as under: “1. On the facts & circumstances of the case as well as in Law, the Learned CIT(A) has erred in rejecting the request of Condonation of delay for genuine reasons, without appreciating the facts and circumstances of the case. ITA No.1612/Del/2022 Global Television Services Pty Ltd. vs. ITO Page 2 of 5 2. On the facts and circumstances of the case as well as in law, the Learned CIT(A) has erred in not adjudicating the ground raised for passing the ex-parte order u/s.147 r.w.s. 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, without considering the facts and circumstances of the case. 3. On the facts and circumstances of the case, the Learned CIT(A) has erred in not adjudicating the ground of reopening the case u/s. 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 without considering the facts and circumstances of the case. 4. On the facts and circumstances of the case, the Rs.35,47,543/ Learned CIT(A) has erred in not adjudicating the ground of making an addition of Rs.1,09,34,020/- without considering the facts and circumstances of the case. 5. Without prejudice to the above, the Learned CIT(A) has erred in not adjudicating the ground of making an addition of Rs.1,09,34,020/- without appreciating the fact that appellant had provided services only to the tune of Rs.55,61,400/- and without considering the facts and circumstances of the case. 6. The appellant craves leave to add, amend, alter or delete the said ground of appeal.” 3. The brief facts of the case are that, assessee had received certain remittance from India after deduction of TDS but had not filed any return of income in India. An assessment order came to be passed against the assessee u/s 144 r.w.s 147 of the Act by treating the said sum of Rs.1,09,34,020/- as taxable. As against the assessment order dated 17/12/2019, the assessee preferred the appeal before the Ld. CIT(A). The Ld.CIT(A) observed that the assessment order served to the assessee on 26/12/2019 and the last date for filing the appeal was 25/01/2020, however, the appeal has been filed on 31/08/2020, therefore, the ITA No.1612/Del/2022 Global Television Services Pty Ltd. vs. ITO Page 3 of 5 Appeal is barred by limitation. The assessee in Form No.35 has mentioned that the reason for delay in filing of appeal is “due to Covid- 19 and foreign director DSC Generation issue.” The Ld. CIT(A) dismissed the appeal filed by the Assessee on the ground of delay in latches. 4. Aggrieved by the dismissal of the appeal by the Ld. CIT(A) dated 26/05/2020, the assessee preferred the present appeal on the ground mentioned above. The Ld. Counsel for the assessee submitted that before the Ld. CIT(A), Assessee could not be represented due to Covid-19 situations and due to nationwide lockdown, since the assessment order came to be passed u/s 144 of the Act, the assessee was unaware of passing the assessment order and apart from the same due to Covid situations, after passing the assessment order the assessee could not file the appeal before the CIT(A) on time. Therefore, the Ld. AR submitted that an opportunity may be given to the assessee to present the case before the Ld. CIT(A). 5. Per contra, the Ld. DR has not objected for the submission made by the Ld. AR and by relying on the order of the Lower Authorities sought for dismissal of the Appeal. ITA No.1612/Del/2022 Global Television Services Pty Ltd. vs. ITO Page 4 of 5 6. We have heard both the parties and perused the materials available on record. The assessment order came to be passed u/s 144 r.w.s 147 of the Act on 17 th December, 2019 and immediately after, there were Covid- 19 situations followed by nationwide lockdown. Considering the above facts and circumstances, we deem it fit to condone the delay in filing of the appeal before the Ld. CIT(A) and restore the matter to the file of Ld. CIT(A) with direction to decide the appeal of the assessee on merits in accordance with law after hearing the assessee. Order accordingly. 7. In the result, the appeal filed by the Assessee is partly allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in open Court on 18 th August, 2023. Sd/- Sd/- (N.K. BILLAIYA) (YOGESH KUMAR U.S.) ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER Dated: 18/08/2023 Pk/R.N, Sr ps Copy forwarded to: 1. Appellant 2. Respondent 3. CIT 4. CIT(Appeals) 5. DR: ITAT ASSISTANT REGISTRAR ITAT, NEW DELHI ITA No.1612/Del/2022 Global Television Services Pty Ltd. vs. ITO Page 5 of 5