Amudha Priya Ramesh , Chennai vs Assessee

This appeal of the assessee is directed against the order of

the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-II, Chennai, dated

22.07.2014 and pertains to assessment year 2010-11. 2 I.T.A. No.2729/Mds/14

2. Shri C. Ramesh Kumar, the Ld. representative for the

assessee, submitted that the assessee is engaged in the business

of earth moving contract. According to the Ld. representative, the

assessee hired lorries and paid the hire charges. Since the

recipients of the hire charges filed Form 15J, according to the Ld.

representative, the assessee has not deducted tax as required

under the Income-tax Act. However, the Assessing Officer

disallowed the claim of the assessee on the ground that as per Rule

29D(3) of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, the assessee is expected to

file Form 15J on or before 30.06.2010 but, in this case, according to

the Ld. representative, the assessee filed the Forms only on

08.02.2013. The Ld. representative submitted that however, the

15J Forms were collected from the recipients before 30.06.2010.

The delay was only in filing the Forms before the concerned

authority and not in collecting the Forms. The Ld. representative

also filed copies of Form 15J/15-I before this Tribunal.

3. On the contrary, Shri A.V. Sreekanth, submitted that the

assessee is expected to file Form 15J and Form 15-I on or before

30.06.2010. However, these were filed only on 8.02.2013, beyond

the period prescribed under the Income-tax Rules. Therefore, the

Assessing Officer found that there was failure on the part of the 3 I.T.A. No.2729/Mds/14

assessee for non-deduction of tax. Accordingly, the payment of hire

charges was disallowed under Section 40(a)(ia) of the Income-tax

Act, 1961 (in short 'the Act') and the CIT(Appeals) has rightly

confirmed the addition.

4. We have considered the rival submissions on either side and

perused the relevant material on record. We have also carefully

gone through the provisions of Rule 29D(3) of Income-tax Rules,

1962. The Rule clearly says that the assessee has to file Form 15-J

on or before 30.06.2010. However, admittedly, these Forms were

filed only on 08.02.2013. The assessee now claims that all the 15-J

and 15-I Forms were obtained before 30.06.2010. This Tribunal is

of the considered opinion that Form 15-J/15-I has to be filed before

the lower authorities before completion of assessment proceedings

in order to verify the collection/payment of taxes by the respective

assessees. Admittedly, the assessee now claims that the Forms

were obtained from the recipients of the amount before 30.06.2010.

This Tribunal is of the considered opinion that obtaining Form15-

J/15-I is mandatory within the time period. However, filing before

the concerned authority is only discretionary. If the assessee files

the 15-J/15-I Forms before completion of assessment, then there

will be sufficient compliance. The assessee now filed copies of 4 I.T.A. No.2729/Mds/14

Form 15-I before this Tribunal. However, genuineness of the Forms

filed before this Tribunal is not verified by any of the authorities.

Therefore, the orders of the lower authorities are set aside. The

entire issue is remitted back to the file of the Assessing Officer. The

Assessing Officer shall verify the genuineness and otherwise of 15-

J/15-I Forms filed by the assessee and thereafter decide the issue

afresh, after giving reasonable opportunity to the assessee. We

make it clear that if the assessee obtained the 15-J/15-I Forms

before 30.06.2010, then there is no need for any disallowance

under Section 40(a)(ia) of the Act. In other words, it has to be

treated as sufficient compliance of Rule 29D(3) of the Income-tax

Rules, 1962.

5. With the above observation, the appeal of the assessee is

allowed for statistical purposes.

Order pronounced on 19th June, 2015 at Chennai.

sd/- sd/- (A.Mohan Alankamony) (N.R.S. Ganesan) (ए. मोहन अलंकामणी) (एन.आर.एस. गणेशन) लेखा सद य/Accountant Member या यक सद य/Judicial Member

चे नई/Chennai, th 4दनांक/Dated, the 19 June, 2015. Kri. 5 I.T.A. No.2729/Mds/14

आदे श क. , त5ल6प अ7े6षत/Copy to: 1. अपीलाथ+/Appellant 2. ,-यथ+/Respondent 3. आयकर आयु8त (अपील)/CIT(A)-II, Chennai 4. आयकर आयु8त/CIT-VII, Chennai 5. 6वभागीय , त न ध/DR 6. गाड' फाईल/GF.