2003 (10) TMI 20

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..... r several airlines - prayer in the writ petition filed by the appellants before us is for a declaration that "tax shall be deducted at source under section 194H of the Act only in respect of commission actually paid or payable by respondents Nos. 4 to 21 to the petitioners on the face value of the tickets and no tax can be deducted in respect of discount or rebate on the price of the tickets allow .....

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..... at which the agents are enabled to sell the tickets to the passengers as "supplementary commission" paid to the agents. It is that nomenclature given by the airlines to that amount, which has resulted in the airlines having been called upon to pay tax under the provisions of section 194H of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the authorities having regarded the supplementary commission as being an addition .....

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..... ". An interim order was sought by the petitioners in the writ petition against respondents Nos. 4 to 21 restraining them from recovering from the petitioners any amount by way of deduction of tax at source under section 194H of the Act in respect of rebate or discount actually allowed to the customers. Initially, an ex parte interim order was granted, but was later vacated at the instance of one .....

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..... so described as falling within the ambit of section 194H of the Act thereby making the airlines liable to deduct tax at source and remit it to the Revenue. Section 194H of the Act is unambiguous. It refers to commission. So long as what is being deducted is tax on commission, it is not only lawful but is obligatory on the person who makes the payment. The injunction sought by the appellants to .....

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..... of supplementary commission to the passengers or may retain a part of it and pass on only a portion of that commission. The learned senior counsel for the appellants submitted that the observations which may come in the way of the petitioners persuading the learned single judge to their point of view at the final hearing of the pending writ petition, may not be made. Having regard to that submis .....

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