ITAT deletes late fee levied on Belatedly filed TDS before Amendment in Section 234 E of Income Tax Act [Read Order]

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Bangalore Bench deleted late fee levied on belatedly filed Tax Deduction (TDS) at Source before the amendment in section 234E of Income Tax Act, 1961.

The assessee Balram Corporate Services Pvt. Ltd. For Assessment Years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16  filed its TDS statement in Form No.24Q for quarter-4 belatedly . The Central Processing Centre (CPC), while processing the TDS statement under section 200A of the Income Tax Act, levied late fee under section 234E of the Income Tax Act.

Aggrieved by the order, the assessee filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal) {CIT(A)}.

The  CIT(A) dismissed the appeals and held that the assessee has not filed appeals against order passed under section 200A of the Income Tax Act, but instead the appeals have been preferred against reminder issued by the ITO(TDS) and confirmed the levy of of late fee under section 234E of the Income Tax Act.

Before the bench, Guruswamy H,counsel for assessee submitted that Revenue has not served any intimation under section 200A of the Income Tax Act Act except the letter of the ITO intimating the outstanding demand.

Ganesh K,,Counsel for revenue supported the orders of the CIT(A).

It  was observed by the tribunal that there was nothing on record to show that the assessee has been served with an intimation under section 200A of the Act for Assessment Years 2013-14  to 2015-16.

Further, the bench determined that “provisions of charging of late fees under section 234E of the Act were introduced with effect from  01.06.2015. The following judicial pronouncements have clearly held that the amendment with effect from  01.06.2015 will be only prospective and not retrospective”

After reviewing the facts and submission the two member bench of the tribunal comprising Laxmi Prasad Sahu, (Accountant Member) and George George K, (Vice President) delete the late fee charges under section 234E of the Income Tax Act, for the Assessment Years 2013-14 to 2015-16.

Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates