Income Tax Appellate Tribunal - Ahmedabad
Globe Ecologistics Ltd.,, Ahmedabad vs Assessee on 26 November, 2015
IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL
''SMC'' BENCH - AHMEDABAD
BEFORE SHRI SHAILENDRA K. YADAV, JUDICIAL
MEMBER AND SHRI RAJESH KUMAR, ACCOUNTANT
MEMBER
ITA Nos. 2689-2691/Ahd/2015
Asst. Year : 2013-14
M/s Globe Ecologistics Ltd.,
Vinit Moondra, CA, 201, Sarap,
Opp. Navjival Press, Ashram Road,
Ahmedabad......... Appellant
PAN -AAACG3938J
Vs.
Dy. CIT, CPC-TDS, Ghaziabad.......... Respondent
ITA No.2692/Ahd/2015
Asst. Year : 2014-15
ITA No.2693/Ahd/2015
Asst. Year 2013-14
AND
ITA No.2694-2695/Ahd/2015
Asst. Year 2014-15
ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 2
Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15
M/s Globe Ecologistics Ltd.,
Vinit Moondra, CA, 201, Sarap,
Opp. Navjival Press, Ashram Road,
Ahmedabad......... Appellant
PAN -AAACG3938J
Vs.
Dy. CIT, CPC-TDS, Ghaziabad.......... Respondent
Appellant by : Shri Vinit Moondra, AR
Respondent by : Shri Anil Kumar Bhardwaj, Sr.DR
Date of hearing : 23/11/2015
Date of pronouncement : 26/11/2015
ORDER
PER BENCH All these appeals of assessee are directed against orders of CIT(A) XXI, Ahmedabad, CIT(A)-8, Ahmedabad, CIT(A) XXI and CIT(A)-8, Ahmedabad of different dates i.e. 25.7.2014, 1.1.2015, 25.7.2014, 25.7.2014,25.7.2014, 19.1.2015 & 14,2,2015 respectively. Since all these appeals pertain to the same assessee and the issues raised in all these appeals is common, these were ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 3 Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15 heard together and are being disposed of by this common order for the sake of convenience.
2. Ground raised in ITA No.2689/Ahd/2015 for Asst. Year 2013-14 is as follows :-
1. In his order, the ld. AO has erred in law by levying late filing fees of Rs.13,000 u/s 234E even though the order u/s 200A has been passed before 01/06/2015. We rely on the case of Sibia Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. u/s DCIT (TDS), passed by Hon'ble Amritsar ITAT on 09/06/2015 vide ITA No.90/ASR/2015.
2. Any other grounds of appeal shall be submitted at the time of hearing.
3. The effective ground of appeal is against levy of fee of Rs.13,000/- for 1st quarter in financial year 2013-14 in the intimation u/s 200A processed by DCIT, CPC-TDS, Ghaziabad.
Aggrieved, assessee went in appeal before CIT(A) against the levy of fee u/s 234E in the order u/s 200A. The CIT(A) upheld the view taken by the DCIT, CPC-TDS.
4. Aggrieved, the assessee is now in appeal before the Tribunal. The facts of the case are that the appellant has filed TDS statement u/s 200(3) beyond the prescribed due date. Appellant should have paid fee at the rate of Rs.200/- per day, subject to maximum of ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 4 Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15 TDS deductible before filing the TDS statement as mandated by section 234E(3) of the Act. The appellant, rather than making the payment of fee suo moto before filing the statement, has objected its levy in the intimation u/s 200A.
5. The ld. Authorised Representative of the assessee submitted that the Assessing Officer has wrongly levied of fee of Rs.13,000/- for 1st quarter in financial year 2013-14 in the intimation u/s 200A and the ld. CIT(A) is not justified in upholding the view of Assessing Officer. Further he submitted that a similar issue in the case of Sibla Healthcare Private Ltd. vs. DCIT (TDS)-CPC, Ghaziabad in ITA No.90/ASR/2015 for Asst. Year 2013-14, has been decided by the Tribunal, Amritsar, in favour assessee vide its order dated 9.6.2015. He also submitted that in the cases of Lions Club of North Surat Charitable Trust vs. ITO in ITA Nos.3274, 3275 & 3276/Ahd/2014 for Asst. Year 2013-14 similar issue has been decided by the Ahmedabad Tribunal vide its order dated 3rd September, 2015. He placed on record copies of orders of the Tribunal and he submitted that the issue raised in the appeals be decided in view of the decisions of the Tribunal.
6. On the other hand, the ld. Departmental Representative relied on the orders of lower authorities but could not controvert the submissions of ld. Authorised Representative.
ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 5Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15
7. We have heard the rival submissions and carefully gone through the material placed on record. We find that in the cases of Lions Club of North Surat Charitable Trust vs. ITO in ITA Nos.3274, 3275 & 3276/Ahd/2014 for Asst. Year 2013-14, the co- ordinate Bench has decided an identical issue vide its order dated 3rd September, 2015 by following the decision of co-ordinate Bench Amritsar in the case of Sibla Healthcare Private Ltd. vs. DCIT (TDS)-CPC, Ghaziabad in ITA No.90/ASR/2015 for Asst. Year 2013-14, wherein it has been observed as under :-
"4. I find that the issue in all these appeals is now squarely covered in favour of the assessee by the decision of ITAT Amritsar Bench in the case of Sibia Healthcare Private Limited vs. DCIT - ITA No.90/Asr/2015, vide order dated 9th June, 2015, wherein the Division Bench has inter alia observed as under :-
"4. We have heard the rival contentions, perused the material on record and duly considered facts of the case in the light of the applicable legal position. In addition to his argument on the merits, learned counsel has also invited our attention to the reports about the decisions of various Hon'ble High Courts, including Hon'ble Kerala High Court, in the case of Narath Mapila LP School Vs Union of India [WP (C) 31498/2013(J)], Hon'ble Karanataka High Court in the case of Adithya Bizor P Solutions Vs Union of India [WP No. 6918- 6938/2014(T-IT), Hon'ble Rajasthan High Court in the case of Om Prakash Dhoot Vs Union of India [WP No. 1981 of 2014] and of Hon'ble Bombay High Court in the case of Rashmikant Kundalia Vs Union of India [WP No. 771 of 2014], granting stay on the demands raised in respect of fees under section 234E. The full text of these decisions were not produced before us. However, as admittedly there are no orders from the Hon'ble Courts above retraining us from our adjudication on merits in respect of the issues in this appeal, and as, in our humble understanding, this appeal requires adjudication on a very short legal issue, within a narrow compass of material facts, we are proceeding to dispose of this appeal on merits.ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 6
Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15
5. We may produce, for ready reference, section 234E of the Act, which was inserted by the Finance Act 2012 and was brought into effect from 1st July 2012. This statutory provision is as follows:
234E. Fee for defaults in furnishing statements (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of the Act, where a person fails to deliver or cause to be delivered a statement within the time prescribed in sub-section (3) of section 200 or the proviso to subsection (3) of section 206C, he shall be liable to pay, by way of fee, a sum of two hundred rupees for every day during which the failure continues.
(2) The amount of fee referred to in sub-section (1) shall not exceed the amount of tax deductible or collectible, as the case may be.
(3) The amount of fee referred to in sub-section (1) shall be paid before delivering or causing to be delivered a statement in accordance with sub-section (3) of section 200 or the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 206C.
(4) The provisions of this section shall apply to a statement referred to in sub-section (3) of section 200 or the proviso to sub-
section (3) of section 206C which is to be delivered or caused to be delivered for tax deducted at source or tax collected at source, as the case may be, on or after the 1st day of July, 2012.
6. We may also reproduce the Section 200A which was inserted by the Finance Act 2009 with effect from 1st April 2010. This statutory provision, as it stood at the relevant point of time, was as follows:
200A: Processing of statements of tax deducted at source ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 7 Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15 (1) Where a statement of tax deduction at source, or a correction statement, has been made by a person deducting any sum (hereafter referred to in this section as deductor) under section 200, such statement shall be processed in the following manner, namely:--
(a) the sums deductible under this Chapter shall be computed after making the following adjustments, namely:--
(i) any arithmetical error in the statement; or
(ii) an incorrect claim, apparent from any information in the statement;
(b) the interest, if any, shall be computed on the basis of the sums deductible as computed in the statement;
(c) the sum payable by, or the amount of refund due to, the deductor shall be determined after adjustment of amount computed under clause (b) against any amount paid under section 200 and section 201, and any amount paid otherwise by way of tax or interest;
(d) an intimation shall be prepared or generated and sent to the deductor specifying the sum determined to be payable by, or the amount of refund due to, him under clause (c); and
(e) the amount of refund due to the deductor in pursuance of the determination under clause (c) shall be granted to the deductor:
Provided that no intimation under this sub-section shall be sent after the expiry of one year from the end of the financial year in which the statement is filed.
Explanation : For the purposes of this sub-section, "an incorrect claim apparent from any information in the statement" shall mean a claim, on the basis of an entry, in the statement--
(i) of an item, which is inconsistent with another entry of the same or some other item in such statement;
(ii) in respect of rate of deduction of tax at source, where such rate is not in accordance with the provisions of this Act;
(2) For the purposes of processing of statements under sub-section (1), the Board may make a scheme for centralised processing of statements of ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 8 Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15 tax deducted at source to expeditiously determine the tax payable by, or the refund due to, the deductor as required under the said subsection.
7. By way of Finance Act 2015, and with effect from 1st June 2015, there is an amendment in Section 200A and this amendment, as stated in the Finance Act 2015, is as follows:
In section 200A of the Income-tax Act, in sub-section (1), for clauses (c) to
(e), the following clauses shall be substituted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2015, namely:--
"(c) the fee, if any, shall be computed in accordance with the provisions of section 234E;
(d) the sum payable by, or the amount of refund due to, the deductor shall be determined after adjustment of the amount computed under clause (b) and clause (c) against any amount paid under section 200 or section 201 or section 234E and any amount paid otherwise by way of tax or interest or fee;
(e) an intimation shall be prepared or generated and sent to the deductor specifying the sum determined to be payable by, or the amount of refund due to, him under clause (d); and
(f) the amount of refund due to the deductor in pursuance of the determination under clause (d) shall be granted to the deductor.
8. In effect thus, post 1st June 2015, in the course of processing of a TDS statement and issuance of intimation under section 200A in respect thereof, an adjustment could also be made in respect of the "fee, if any, shall be computed in accordance with the provisions of section 234E". There is no dispute that what is impugned in appeal before us is the intimation under section 200A of the Act, as stated in so many words in the impugned intimation itself, and, as the law stood, prior to 1st June 2015, there was no enabling provision therein for raising a demand in respect of levy of fees under section 234E. While examining the correctness of the intimation under section 200A, we have to be guided by the limited mandate of Section 200A, which, at the relevant point of time, permitted computation of amount recoverable from, or payable to, the tax deductor after making the following adjustments:
(a). after making adjustment on account of "arithmetical errors" and "incorrect claims apparent from any information in the statement"
- Section 200A(1)(a) ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 9 Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15
(b). after making adjustment for 'interest, if any, computed on the basis of sums deductible as computed in the statement".
- Section 200A(1)(b)
9. No other adjustments in the amount refundable to, or recoverable from, the tax deductor, were permissible in accordance with the law as it existed at that point of time.
10. In view of the above discussions, in our considered view, the adjustment in respect of levy of fees under section 234E was indeed beyond the scope of permissible adjustments contemplated under section 200A. This intimation is an appealable order under section 246A(a), and, therefore, the CIT(A) ought to have examined legality of the adjustment made under this intimation in the light of the scope of the section 200A. Learned CIT(A) has not done so. He has justified the levy of fees on the basis of the provisions of Section 234E. That is not the issue here. The issue is whether such a levy could be effected in the course of intimation under section 200A. The answer is clearly in negative. No other provision enabling a demand in respect of this levy has been pointed out to us and it is thus an admitted position that in the absence of the enabling provision under section 200A, no such levy could be effected. As intimation under section 200A, raising a demand or directing a refund to the tax deductor, can only be passed within one year from the end of the financial year within which the related TDS statement is filed, and as the related TDS statement was filed on 19th February 2014, such a levy could only have been made at best within 31st March 2015. That time has already elapsed and the defect is thus not curable even at this stage. In view of these discussions, as also bearing in mind entirety of the case, the impugned levy of fees under section 234 E is unsustainable in law. We, therefore, uphold the grievance of the assessee and delete the impugned levy of fee under section 234E of the Act. The assessee gets the relief accordingly."
5. When the above judicial precedent was brought to the notice of the ld. Departmental Representative, he did not have much to say except to place his reliance on the orders of the authorities below. He fairly did not dispute that the provisions accepting levy of late filing fees under section 234E have indeed been brought to the statute w.e.f. 1st June,, 2015 and the impugned order was passed much before that date.
6. In view of the above discussions and bearing in mind entirety of the case, I hereby delete the levy of late filing fees in all these three appeals under section 234E ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 10 Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15 of the Act by way of impugned intimation issued. The assessee gets the relief accordingly."
8. Therefore, in view of our above discussion and respectfully following the above decisions of the co-ordinate Benches, we reverse the orders of lower authorities and allow the claim of assessee. The ground raised by the assessee in all the appeals is allowed.
9. In the result, all the appeals filed by the assessee are allowed.
Pronounced in the open Court on this the 26th day of November, 2015 Sd/- Sd/-
(Rajesh Kumar) (Shailendra K. Yadav)
ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER
Dated : 26/11/2015
Mahata/-
Copy of the order forwarded to:
1. The Appellant
2. The Respondent
3. The CIT concerned
4. The CIT(A) concerned
5. The DR, ITAT, Ahmedabad
6. Guard File
BY ORDER
Asst.Registrar,ITAT, Ahmedabad
ITA Nos.2689 to 2695/Ahd/2015 11
Asst. Year_ 2013-14 & 2014-15
1. Date of dictation: 23.11.2015
2. Date on which the typed draft is placed before the Dictating Member: 24.11.2015 other Member:
3. Date on which approved draft comes to the Sr. P. S./P.S.:
4. Date on which the fair order is placed before the Dictating Member for pronouncement: __________
5. Date on which the fair order comes back to the Sr. P.S./P.S.:
6. Date on which the file goes to the Bench Clerk: 26/11/15
7. Date on which the file goes to the Head Clerk:
8. The date on which the file goes to the Assistant Registrar for signature on the order:
9. Date of Despatch of the Order: