Reasonable cause for late wealth-tax return filing defeated penalty where extension requests were unanswered and family hardship was shown.

Delay in filing a wealth-tax return may be excused where the assessee shows reasonable cause for non-compliance. The assessee relied on family circumstances, including a grandson's marriage and later misfortunes, and had filed extension requests shortly after the due date and again for extension up to 31 January 1975. As no decision on those requests was communicated, the delay was treated as having occurred for reasonable cause. The penalty for late filing was therefore not justified and was cancelled.

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Issues: Whether the assessee had reasonable cause for the delay in filing the wealth-tax return so as to avoid penalty for late filing.

Analysis: The delay was explained by the assessee's family circumstances, including a grandson's marriage, applications seeking extension of time filed soon after the due date and again later for extension up to 31 January 1975, and other subsequent misfortunes in the family. The record showed that no decision on the extension requests was communicated to the assessee. In these circumstances, the failure to file the return within time was treated as having occurred for reasonable cause.

Conclusion: The levy of penalty was not justified and was cancelled in favour of the assessee.

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