The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Pune bench has held that State Bank of India (SBI) cannot take a defense of scarcity of advisors and imposes a cost of Rs. 1 lakh for late filing of Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) Statement.
The appellant, State Bank of Indiareceived intimation under section 154 of the Act with a demand to pay Rs.72,649/- on account of the late filing fee under section 234E of the Act for committing default in late filing Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) statement. On appeal, the CIT(A) dismissed the appeal alleging that the appellant failed to explain the delay.
Before ITAT the appellant submitted that the appeal could not be filed in time due to a shortage of staff and facilities andprayed for remanding the matter to the file of CIT(A) with a direction to condone the delay and to pass an order, bythe law. The counsel on behalf of the respondent while opposing the submission to remand the matter submitted that the appellant could not state proper reasons for the delay before the CIT(A) and the assessee is well versed with the procedures of Income Tax.
The Tribunal observed that the appellant is a public sector undertaking and leader in the banking business, the contentions of the appellantare untenable as it has a dearth of advisors and tax consultants as it was having huge financial commitments.
Mr. Inturi Rama Rao, Accountant Member,and Mr. S.S. Viswanethra Ravi, Judicial Member have held that “in the interest of justice, we deem it proper to remand the matter to the file of CIT(A) subject to the payment of cost Rs.1 lac (Rs.1,00,000/-) in favor of the Prime Minister Relief Fund and the assessee shall pay said amount within 30 days from the date of receipt of this order”.
Mr. Hari Krishan and Mr. M.G. Jasnani appeared on behalf of the appellant and respondent respectively.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
