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Representation
30th December 2009
The Chairman
Central Board of Direct Taxes
Department of Revenue
Ministry of Finance
Government of India
North Block
Delhi-110 001
Dear Sir,
Sub:
Undue hardship faced by
assesses in filing signed acknowledgement (i.e. ITR-V) of the Return of Income
in view of directions contained in the Circular issued by the Central Board of
Direct Taxes (‘CBDT’) – Circular No. 03/2009 dated 21.05.2009
We refer to the CBDT Circular No. 03/2009 dated 21.05.2009 (‘CBDT
Circular’) in connection with the filing of returns of income for assessment
year 2009 2010. We appreciate the efforts made by CBDT with regard to e-filing
of the returns of income.
Background
An assessee is required to file its return of income on or
before the due date mentioned in section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961
(‘Act’).
From AY 2006-07, certain assessees are mandatorily required
to upload the return of income electronically. In case the return is furnished
with digital signature, the date of uploading the return electronically as
mentioned in ITR-V is treated as the date of filing of the return of income. In
case the return is not uploaded with digital signature, the acknowledgement form
of the return of income, i.e., ITR-V is required to be signed by the assessee
manually and then furnished to the Income-tax Department within a certain time
limit.
Prior to the existing CBDT Circular, an assessee was required
to file the ITR-V post uploading its return on the income-tax website, with the
respective Assessing Officer (‘AO’) within 15 days of filing the return
electronically. This enabled assessees to get an acknowledgement from the
Department for having furnished ITR-V with the concerned Officer having
jurisdiction.
A number of claims such as carry forward and set of losses
and allowances, claim of deduction under Chapter VI-A of the Act and various
other benefits depend very much upon filing of the return on or before due date
mentioned under section 139 of the Act. Any failure on the part of the assessee
to file the return of income on or before the due date will lead to disallowance
of claims mentioned above.
The assessee is concerned primarily with proof of filing the
return of income with the Department. The acknowledgement bearing the stamp of
income-tax office is very much preserved and used by the assessees for various
purposes including compliances under the Act; obtaining bank loan; obtaining
visa/ passport; registration with various government authorities, etc.
As per the existing CBDT Circular, from assessment year
2009-10, the ITR-V duly signed by the assessee has to be furnished by
ordinary post
to “the Income-tax Department, Centralised Processing Centre, Post Box No.1,
Electronic City Post Office, Bangalore – 560 100, Karnataka” within 60 days of
uploading the return or 30 September, whichever is later.
Hardships and practical difficulties
The position has been drastically changed and made difficult
after the issue of the above CBDT Circular. Those assessees furnishing the
returns without digital signature are facing and are also likely to continue to
face unintended difficulties and hardships for the following reasons:
The assessee does not have in his possession any
acknowledgement as the ITR-V is to be sent by only Ordinary Post.
Unfortunately, no other
mode of sending the same is feasible under the new system and hence, the
assessees will have to rely only on the efficiency of the postal department.
Further, the assessee gets to know about the fact and date of
receipt of such ITR-V by the CPC at Bangalore only when he receives the
intimation by e-mail to that effect from the CPC and till then, uncertainty
continues (for minimum 3 to 4 weeks) and the assessee is
effectively helpless
to do anything in that regard.
Also, the assessee will be at the
mercy of Postal Department
(India) over which neither the CBDT nor
the assessee has any control.
Further, any failure or delay on the part of the Postal
Department may lead to the return of income not being filed before the due date
and consequentially lead to disallowance of claims made by the assessee. The
onus that is likely to be cast on the assessee is going to be of a serious
nature over which the assessee has no control whatsoever.
If such ITR-V does not reach the CPC at Bangalore within the
specified period of 60 days, the ROI electronically transmitted by the assessee
will become automatically invalid. Since the return will be deemed to have not
been furnished at all in case the duly signed ITR-V is, for some reason or
other, not delivered to CPC within the due date, besides other consequences, the
assessee will be saddled with liability for payment of interest under sections
234A and 234B and levy of penalty under section 271(1)(c) of the Act.
Accordingly, assessees will have to face undue hardships
without any fault on their part, since they would have no proof that they had
sent the ITR-V to the specified address well within the time limit of 60 days.
Apart from this, it is not fair to expect every assessee in the country from
different places to send such ITR-V to Bangalore by post.
It has also been experienced this year that several assesses
who had sent the ITR-V immediately after uploading their returns but had not got
any intimation about receipt sent the same again and in some cases this was done
twice or thrice after which they received the intimation that their form had
reached Bangalore. It is quite natural that in their anxiety, assessees who have
no proof or intimation of their form being received would tend to send the same
repeatedly. It is also not fair to place extra burden the already over burdened
postal department.
On the other hand there are several assesses who after
sending the ITR-V felt they had completely complied with the law and did not
send the same again. How can they escape the consequences of not furnishing a
valid return if the same for any reason has not reached the given address, since
they have no proof whatsoever of sending the ITR-V as it was mandated to be sent
by Ordinary Post.
Prayer
In light of the above, we humbly request that taxpayers be permitted to furnish such ITR-V at their respective places in the office of the Assessing Officer or at any centralized place in the local income-tax office from where, the De-partment can thereafter forward the same to CPC at Bangalore. This will also enable the assessee to get proper acknowledgement with regard to the date on which such ITR-V is submitted so that there remains no ambiguity about the date of their furnishing the same and the consequent date of furnishing the return of income.
Further, we are informed that for the assessment year 2009-10, many assesses who have uploaded their returns without digital signature within the prescribed time but have not yet received intimation of their ITR-V having reached Bangalore and having been processed ought to be allowed to file their ITR-V with their respective Assessing Officers till 31st January, 2010.
It is, therefore, humbly submitted that CBDT may kindly consider the request and modify the regulations.
We shall be pleased to provide any information or clarification that your goodself may need in respect of the above.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
CC:
(1) Shri S.S. Palanimanickan, Hon.Union Minister of State for Finance.
Ameet Patel Kishor Karia Rajesh Shah
President Chairman, Co-chairman,
Taxation Taxation
Committee Committee
(2) Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Hon’ble Union Finance Minister.
(3) Shri Rahul Gandhi, Gen.Secretary, Indian National Congress.
