Invalid Demands for Late Filing Fees Pre-2015 Quashed by Court

The Court held that demands for late filing fees under section 234E of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the periods prior to 01.06.2015 were invalid and lacked legal authority. Referring to precedent, the Court determined that section 234E could only be enforced from 1st June 2015 onwards due to the enactment of section 200A. Consequently, the Court quashed the intimations demanding late fees for the period from 2012-13 until 01.06.2015, ruling in favor of the petitioner in the writ petition.

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Issues:
Late filing fee under section 234E of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the periods from 2012-13 to 2014-15. Jurisdiction to impose late fee. Validity of demands under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis:
The petitioner was called upon to pay the late filing fee under section 234E of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the periods from 2012-13 to 2014-15. The demands were made based on the provisions of section 234E, which imposes a fee for default in furnishing statements related to tax deductions at source. The petitioner challenged the demands, arguing that prior to 01.06.2015, they cannot be held liable to pay late fees for non-filing of any statement of tax deduction at source.

The respondents contended that since the petitioner had already preferred statutory appeals which were dismissed, they cannot question the demands under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. However, the Court considered a previous judgment where it was held that section 234E would take effect only from 1st June, 2015, as section 200A was made effective from that date. The Court found that the demands for the period prior to 01.06.2015 were bereft of authority and legally unsustainable.

The Court referred to a previous case where it was established that late fee under Section 234E cannot be imposed before 01.06.2015 due to the insertion of section 200A on that date. The Court concluded that the levy of late fee for the period in question was without authority and legally invalid. As a result, the Court quashed the intimations demanding late fee under section 234E for the period from 2012-13 till 01.06.2015, allowing the writ petition in favor of the petitioner.

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