2013 (11) TMI 137 - AT - Income Tax

Penalty levied under section 272B Permanent account numbers of six deductees furnished by the assessee in e-TDS return were found to be incorrect - The assessee failed to furnish the requisite information before the Assessing Officer- Held that - Missing/invalid permanent account number report was obtained from the Income-tax Officer (TDS) as on May 16, 2012 which shows one permanent account number of deductees under missing/invalid permanent account number category The assessee has failed to furnish the permanent account number of one of the deductees, the assessee has defaulted and is eligible to levy of penalty under section 272B Decided against assessee.

Summary

Issues:
Appeal against penalty under section 272B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 amounting to Rs. 10,000.

Analysis:
The case involved an appeal against a penalty levied under section 272B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 amounting to Rs. 10,000. The assessee had filed the TDS quarterly statement for the financial year 2008-09, but the Assessing Officer found that the permanent account numbers of six deductees were invalid. Despite a show-cause notice, the assessee did not respond, leading to the penalty imposition. The contention was that the assessee had reasonable cause for the error. The Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) upheld the penalty, noting the default was in the case of one deductee. The issue was whether the penalty under section 272B was justified.

Upon review, it was found that the penalty was leviable when the assessee failed to comply with the provisions of the Act. In this case, the assessee had e-filed the TDS return but provided incorrect permanent account numbers for six deductees. The Commissioner observed that one permanent account number was missing or invalid. The Tribunal held that the failure to provide the correct permanent account number for one deductee constituted a default, justifying the penalty under section 272B. The assessee failed to establish a reasonable cause for the error, leading to the dismissal of the appeal.

Therefore, the Tribunal upheld the order of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) and dismissed the appeal of the assessee. The decision was based on the failure to furnish the correct permanent account number for one deductee, which constituted a default under the Act. The appeal was concluded with the dismissal of the assessee's appeal against the penalty.