Foreign Tax Credit cannot be denied for delayed Form 67 filing where substantive treaty entitlement is otherwise verifiable.

Foreign Tax Credit could not be denied merely because Form 67 was filed after the due date, as Rule 128(9) was treated as a procedural compliance requirement and not a substantive bar to treaty relief. Where the foreign tax payment and credit claim were otherwise verifiable, the credit was to be allowed after due verification of the form. The Tribunal accordingly directed the Assessing Officer to grant the credit, holding that delayed filing did not extinguish the underlying entitlement.

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Issues: Whether Foreign Tax Credit could be denied solely because Form 67 was filed beyond the due date.

Analysis: The Tribunal followed its earlier coordinate-bench view that Rule 128(9) does not prescribe disallowance of Foreign Tax Credit for delayed filing of Form 67. Filing Form 67 was treated as a procedural requirement and not a mandatory condition that defeats the substantive entitlement to treaty relief, especially where the foreign tax payment and credit claim were otherwise verifiable. On identical facts, credit was to be granted after due verification of the form.

Conclusion: Foreign Tax Credit could not be denied merely for late filing of Form 67, and the Assessing Officer was directed to allow the credit after due verification.

Ratio Decidendi: A procedural filing requirement for claiming treaty-based Foreign Tax Credit does not extinguish the substantive entitlement where the rule does not expressly provide disallowance for delayed compliance.

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