No Coercive Action Against Taxpayer Pending CBDT Decision on Technical Issues in Online Return Filing.

The HC directed that no coercive action be taken against the petitioner pending the decision on their representation to the CBDT regarding technical issues in online filing of the income tax return. The court emphasized fairness and due process, allowing the petitioner to submit a manual return and await CBDT's decision. The matter was adjourned for further proceedings.

---

---

Issues:
1. Acceptance of manual return of income due to technical problem in online filing
2. Amendment in electronic Income Tax Return (ITR) utility to provide an option regarding section 115JC of the Income Tax Act, 1961

Analysis:

1. The petitioner filed a writ petition seeking a direction for the respondents to accept a manual return of income due to a technical problem in online filing. The petitioner also requested a direction to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to amend the electronic ITR utility to provide an option regarding the applicability of section 115JC of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The court noted a similar case where an assessee faced a similar difficulty but had not filed any representation before the CBDT. In that case, the court granted liberty to make a representation to the CBDT and directed that no coercive recovery proceedings be initiated until a decision was made by the CBDT. However, in the present case, the petitioner had already made a representation to the CBDT without any fruitful result. The court directed that pending the decision on the petitioner's representation, no coercive action should be taken against the petitioner by the respondents.

2. The petitioner had filed a representation before the CBDT along with the physical income tax return on 21.01.2021. The court directed that the pendency of the writ petition would not prevent a decision on the petitioner's representation. It was further ordered that in the interim, no coercive action should be taken against the petitioner by the respondents. The matter was adjourned to 1st April, 2021 for further proceedings. The court's decision aimed to protect the petitioner from any coercive recovery actions until a decision was made on the representation submitted to the CBDT, ensuring fairness and due process in addressing the technical issues faced by the petitioner in filing the income tax return.

---