The Ahmedabad Bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ( ITAT) allowed the claim for deduction under Section 80JJAA of Income Tax Act,1961, despite a 29-day delay in filing Form 10DA, treating the delay as procedural.

Analytix Business Solution (I) Pvt. Ltd,appellant-assessee, had claimed a deduction of ₹92.60 lakh under Section 80JJAA, which was denied by the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) during processing under Section 143(1) due to late filing of Form 10DA. The form was submitted 29 days after the due date. The CIT(A) upheld the denial, stating that timely filing of the form was mandatory for claiming the deduction.

The ITAT noted that the assessee had argued before the Commissioner of Income Tax(Appeals)[CIT(A)] that the delay in filing Form 10DA was only procedural and should not result in denial of the deduction under Section 80JJAA. It relied on various decisions, including those by the ITAT Delhi in Sai Computers Ltd., the Madras High Court in Craftsman Automation Pvt. Ltd., and the Allahabad High Court in Surya Merchants Ltd., all holding that such filing requirements were directory, not mandatory.

The assessee pointed out that the deduction of ₹92.60 lakh was correctly shown in the tax audit report and return of income, and that Form 10DA was filed before the return was processed, though 29 days late. It submitted that the delay was not intentional and should not affect the claim.

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During the hearing, the assessee also referred to recent ITAT rulings in Sunrise Industries (India) Ltd. and G4S Secure Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd., which supported its case.

The tribunal observed that the CIT(A) had not considered or addressed these submissions and case laws, and upheld the disallowance without distinguishing them. It also noted that the Department could not refer to any contrary decision from the jurisdictional High Court or the Supreme Court.

The two member bench comprising T.R.Senthil Kumar (Judicial Member) and Annapurna Gupta (Accountant Member) held that the CIT(A) was not justified in confirming the disallowance of the ₹92.60 lakh deduction under Section 80JJAA. It noted that the delay in filing Form 10DA was only procedural and did not affect the assessee’s eligibility for the deduction. The appellate tribunal directed the CPC/AO to allow the claim.

Accordingly,the appeal was allowed.

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