2023 (4) TMI 1253 - AT - Income Tax

Tribunal directs deletion of penalty under Income Tax Act for late audit report filing

The Tribunal allowed the appeal, directing the Assessing Officer to delete the penalty imposed under section 271B of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The ... Penalty u/s 271B - late filing of audit report u/s 44AB - HELD THAT:- Assessee was required to get his accounts audited under section 44AB and filed within the due date. Since the assessee has not filed the tax audit report u/s 44AB of the Act before the due date, the Assessing Officer levied penalty u/s 271B which was confirmed by the ld. CIT(A)(NFAC). Before us, it was submitted that the assessment u/s 143(3) of the Act has been completed on the basis of the audit report and return of income filed by the assessee and prayed for deleting the penalty levied under section 271B of the Act. Similar issue on an identical fact was subject matter in appeal before this Tribunal in the case of Balaji Logistics [2022 (9) TMI 1432 - ITAT CHENNAI] reasons given by the assessee for not filing tax audit report within due date comes under reasonable cause as provided u/s.271B of the Act, and thus, the AO is erred in levying penalty u/s.271B - Decided in favour of assessee. Issues involved:The issues involved in this case pertain to penalty proceedings under section 271B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for late filing of audit report under section 44AB of the Act, and the contention regarding the levy of penalty.Summary:Issue 1: Penalty under section 271B for late filing of audit report under section 44AB of the ActThe assessee filed the return of income for the assessment year 2017-18 admitting total income. The Assessing Officer initiated penalty proceedings under section 271B for late filing of the audit report under section 44AB. The penalty was levied since the audit report was not filed before the due date. The assessee contended that the audit report was furnished along with the return of income and the assessment was completed based on it. The Tribunal observed a similar issue in a previous case where the penalty was deleted as the audit report was submitted before the completion of assessment proceedings. Following this precedent, the Tribunal held that it was not a fit case for the levy of penalty under section 271B and directed the AO to delete the penalty.Conclusion:The Tribunal allowed the appeal filed by the assessee, directing the Assessing Officer to delete the penalty levied under section 271B of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The decision was based on the principle that the late filing of the audit report was a venial technical breach without any mala fide intention, as the report was made available to the AO before the completion of assessment proceedings.