Foreign tax credit claim survives belated Form No. 67 filing when the prescribed form is available at processing.

Filing Form No. 67 within the return-filing due date under section 139(1) is treated as a directory procedural requirement for claiming foreign tax credit, not a mandatory condition. Where salary income is taxed in both India and the United Kingdom and the form is available before processing under section 143(1), the credit should not be denied merely because the form was filed late. The operative effect is that substantive entitlement to foreign tax credit prevails over a belated filing defect when the prescribed form is on record at the time of processing.

---

---

Issues: Whether filing Form No. 67 within the due date prescribed for filing the return under section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is mandatory for claiming foreign tax credit.

Analysis: The claim for foreign tax credit arose from salary income taxed both in India and the United Kingdom, and the assessee had filed Form No. 67 before processing under section 143(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The governing view relied on holds that the requirement of filing Form No. 67 within the return-filing due date is directory and not mandatory, and that the credit cannot be denied merely for delay if the form is available at the time of processing. Applying that principle, the denial of credit only on the ground of belated filing of Form No. 67 was not sustainable.

Conclusion: Filing Form No. 67 within the due date under section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is not mandatory for foreign tax credit, and the assessee was entitled to the credit.

Ratio Decidendi: A procedural requirement for claiming foreign tax credit is directory, not mandatory, where the prescribed form is available at the time of processing and the substantive entitlement to credit is otherwise established.

---