In a recent ruling, the Madras High Court condoned the delay of the Income Tax Returns ( ITR ) filed by the Agricultural Co-operative Credit Society considering the genuine hardships faced by the members. The matter was remanded for reconsideration.
The petitioner, S 878 Kalvadangam Primary Agricultural Co-operative Credit Society Limited, functioning under the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act, 1983, faced challenges in meeting the deadline for filing its income tax return due to delays in receiving its audit report, leading to implications under amended Section 80B of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Consequently, the petitioner received an intimation challenging its filing, leading to subsequent legal proceedings.
The petitioner, citing genuine hardship, filed its income tax return belatedly on 26.06.2020, along with an application under Section 119(2)(b) seeking condonation of the delay. However, the application was rejected, prompting the petitioner to approach the High Court for redress.
The petitioner’s counsel highlighted the circumstances surrounding the delay, emphasising that the statutory audit, crucial for filing, was completed only on 30.12.2019, with the audit report received in February 2020. Additionally, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic further complicated matters. The petitioner stressed the genuine hardship faced by its members if statutory deductions were denied.
In response, the Commissioner of Income Tax acknowledged the challenges faced by the petitioner but raised concerns regarding the absence of explicit reasons for the delay of 180 days between the completion of the audit and the filing of the return.
The High Court, after considering the submissions, recognized the genuine hardship faced by the agricultural co-operative credit society and deemed it a fit case to condone the delay. Consequently, the court quashed the order rejecting the application for condonation and remanded the matter for assessment based on the petitioner’s filed return.
The court stated that “The petitioner is a co-operative credit society and undoubtedly if such society is unable to avail of statutory deductions, there would be genuine hardship to its members. By taking all these facts and circumstances into account, I am of the view that it is a fit case to condone delay on the ground of genuine hardship.”
Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, presiding over a single bench, issued the following directives: The writ petition is allowed, thereby quashing the challenged order and condoning the delay in filing the income tax return. Additionally, the intimation under dispute is nullified, and the case is remanded for assessment based on the petitioner’s submitted income return.
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